Negative post-mortem experience. Life after death, evidence, scientific facts, eyewitness accounts Life after death, journey to the afterlife
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Descriptions of the afterlife after clinical death have become so frequent and commonplace that few people truly believe in them. In addition, scientists studying the work of the human brain at the moment of departure prove: all post-mortem visions are nothing more than “residual hallucinations” (you can call it whatever you like, for example, a trick of the brain) of an already fading consciousness that clings to life by any means, “ inventing” heaven for themselves (or even hell, just so as not to “leave”). (website)
The famous American neurosurgeon and Harvard teacher Eben Alexander, naturally, was among the skeptics who did not believe a single story of the returnees after.
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The most interesting thing, he writes today in his book “Proof of Heaven,” is that I, like most Americans, am a believer, but this does not prevent me, or, apparently, all other religious people from living and not believing in some mythical afterlife.
As you probably already guessed, fate (or, most likely, higher powers) “played a trick” on Eben and his skepticism (it was not for nothing that the great Indian yogi Sri Aurobindo claimed that the Almighty is a great joker), once sending a doctor of sciences to the same clinical death - a journey to the afterlife.
And Alexander’s soul finds itself in an amazing place, which he calls paradise, since that world, according to all the sensations of the neurosurgeon, was so different from ours, and at the same time captivatingly beautiful and exciting, that it is difficult for him to choose any other definition from the available earthly ones.
In that paradise, Eben says, he communicated with an unfamiliar girl who literally radiated love. She said that he had nothing to fear here: he is loved, he is greatly valued, and he simply cannot do anything wrong.
And then the neurosurgeon was shown truly spiritual things about which he had not had the slightest idea before. But the most interesting thing is that after Eben returned from there, his biological parents (Alexander grew up in a foster family) sent him a photograph of his sister Betty, who died in 1998, about whom he knew nothing - it was the face of the girl who met the scientist in paradise...
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Eben did not understand then why he had received such an honor - to see paradise during his lifetime, since that beautiful girl Betty immediately warned the scientist that he would have to return.
And Eben Alexander returned, or, to put it in earthly terms: he came out of a coma. After this out-of-body experience, the scientist decided to write the above-mentioned book.
Why? There is a simple explanation for this, he says. I have already written a lot of various scientific works, I don’t know whether they have brought benefit to humanity, but I think a book about the afterlife of a neurosurgeon, doctor of sciences, and a Harvard teacher, will certainly bring it, since many will believe in my posthumous experience, in its veracity easier than the similar experience of a common man in the street. And to believe means to spiritually change for the better. Therefore, even if my book helps only a few readers with this, I will consider that I wrote it not in vain...
BIBLIOTHERAPY: MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE
Pavel Geleva
“To be afraid of death is nothing more than attributing to yourself wisdom that you do not possess, that is, imagining that you know what you do not know. After all, no one knows what death is, or even whether it is not the greatest of blessings for a person, yet they are afraid of it, as if they know for sure that it is the greatest of evils.”
Socrates
Spiritualist evidence
1. State of mind after the death of a person
century directly depends on tastes and tends
ties manifested by him in earthly life: he was
whether he is immersed in material things or
he strove for the good of the mind and heart. If
sensual inclinations prevailed, then
it is forced to freeze at the lower levels
nyah, as dense and rough as possible.
If he feeds his mind with high and pure
with your thoughts, then rises to the worlds,
related to nature and character
his thoughts. Swedenborg is absolutely right
saying: “Heaven is in what we give our
2. In any case, each has its own place
doesn't find it right away, and the transition
neither is it instantaneous. If the eye
human cannot suddenly pass
from darkness to bright light, then especially not
maybe this is the soul of a person. Death is only
brings us into an intermediate state,
which is nothing more than an original
new continuation of physical life and
prelude to spiritual life. This state
tion of confusion; it happens more or less
it lasts depending on
how rough or refined nature is
perispirit of the deceased.
3. Freed from material things
burden that enslaved her, her soul is still
turns out to be shrouded in the thinnest network
thoughts and images: sensations, passions and
emotions generated by her during her life
not in the body. She must now master
come to terms with your new position, realize
your state before being carried away into Kos
mic distance, which can be to her
foot only if the star
her body has reached a high degree of refinement
ity and radiates with sufficient force.
4. First of all, for the majority everything is -
reason for surprise in this Beyond
in the world where things are significantly different
come from the things of the earthly world. Law of gravity
Tenya is not so adamant there. The walls are not
are more of an obstacle. Soul mo
can pass through them and fly along
air. And yet some fetters
the nature of which she cannot determine,
are still holding her. Fills everything
her fears, insecurities; but the highest
her friends watch over her and guide her
her steps.
5. Advanced perfume releases quickly
are given from all earthly influences and again
gain consciousness of themselves. Mothers
the cover is torn under pressure
their thoughts; boundless ones open up
there are prospects before them. They're almost the same
hour understand their position and easily
they adapt to it. Their do
the spiritual body is an instrument of the will, an organism of
shi, with whom she never parted.
It is a product of her entire past,
for she herself built it bit by bit
by their actions.
This body now floats for some time in the planet’s atmosphere.
Then, depending on the degree of its transparency and strength, responding to calling impulses coming from afar, it naturally rushes towards communities of souls like itself. This is a collection of spirits of the same rank, luminous or darkened spirits, who sympathetically greet the newcomer and initiate him into the new conditions of his existence.
6. Imperfect perfumes last for a long time
store impressions of material
life. They think they're still living
physical life, and continue,
sometimes for many years, practice
For materialists, the phenomenon of death remains unclear.
Having not received the appropriate knowledge about this in their lifetime, they confuse the fluid body with the physical body. The illusions of earthly life emerge from them even in new conditions. Their tastes and imaginary needs seem to nail them to the ground. Then slowly, gradually, with the help of good spirits, their consciousness awakens, the mind opens to the understanding of this new state of life. But as soon as they begin to strive to rise up, their own weight makes them fall to the ground. Planetary attraction and cosmic currents violently throw them back into our region, like dead leaves swept away by a storm.
7. Orthodox believers are astray
they live in uncertainty and everyone is waiting,
that the sacred promises will be fulfilled
and they too will taste the joys of the promise
bliss. It turns out great sometimes
:ix amazement, and theirs must be long
apprenticeship required to acquire
to guide them to the true laws of the Cosmos.
Instead of angels or demons, they meet there the spirits of people who, like them, lived on earth and came to this world before them. Their disappointment is great when they learn that the fulfillment of their expectations is delayed, when their beliefs are refuted by facts for which neither education nor upbringing has in any way prepared them. And yet, if their life was devoted to goodness, if they were faithful to their duty, then their souls there, since deeds have even more influence on fate than beliefs, cannot be unhappy.
8. Skeptical minds and all those who
refused to allow the very possibility
the importance of life independent of the body is considered
find themselves immersed in some kind of sleep, which
will last until such time as error
their misfortune will not be dispelled.
9. Impressions of this kind vary
to infinity, as well as dignity
the ministry of the souls themselves. Those of them who
during earthly life they knew the truth and service
lived there, they find all the benefits from that
many quests and labors.
Evidence of this is, among many others, the following message.
“I felt how little by little the paths were unraveling and that my spiritual personality, my “I”, was being released. I saw good spirits around me, waiting for me; and it was with them that I finally broke away from the earth's surface.
This disincarnation did not cause me any suffering. My first steps here were like those of a child starting to walk.
Spiritual light, full of strength and life, was born in me, for light does not come from others, but from within us. This is a ray emanating from the fluidic membrane and penetrating you entirely.
The more you worked in truth, love and mercy, the stronger this light becomes and becomes unbearably, dazzlingly bright for those who stand below you.
My first steps were uncertain, but little by little strength began to come to me, and I turned to God for help and forgiveness. Realizing that my personality was completely freed from carnal fetters, I finally began to prepare for the work that I had to do. I saw my whole past life and made sure that it was better fixed in my memory.
The past is preserved in the fluid of man, and therefore of the spirit. His perispirit is like a vertical reflection of all his deeds and actions, and the soul, if he lived badly, sadly looks at his own mistakes, inscribed in the curves of his perisprital body.
I saw my life as it was. Naturally, I became convinced that I was by no means impeccable - and who on earth could have such a claim? But I must tell you that, having seen my life as it was, I felt deep satisfaction and happiness from the earthly work I had done.
I fought, toiled and suffered for the spread of spiritualistic light to earthly humanity. Together with hope, I gave it to many of my brothers on earth through the word, research and my writings. And I have now found this very light here.
I am happy that I have worked to raise faith, hearts and courage. And I advise you all to turn to that indestructible faith that I had and which is gleaned from Spiritualism.
I still have to work on myself in order to see my past in previous incarnations. This is a whole study, a huge work that I still have to do. I already see some part of this past, but I cannot yet clearly define it, although my awakening seems to have ended. Soon, I hope, these past lives will appear more clearly before me. I have enough light to move forward confidently, seeing the future ahead of me. And even now I help spirits who are lost and now unhappy.”
(From the book by Leon Denis “Man and his fate in this world and the next”)
DO YOU NEED A POINT OVER THE “I”?
1. All messages about the otherworldly
lives differ from each other in detail
stakh; I believe, however, that most
number of stories about our life on earth in
details are consistent with each other
no more, but still, in general,
there are certain similarities between them;
the same thing here.
2. We don't know much about the coming
life to take on the courage
describe it with the same exhaustiveness
exactly like, for example, a small flower bed in the middle of a square. It is likely that those messengers who return to us are all at more or less the same level of development and represent the same wave of life rolling back from our shores.
The messages usually come from those who have recently died and, as would be expected in such a case, gradually weaken.
In this connection it is appropriate to note that, according to tradition, the appearances of Christ to his disciples or to Paul took place only during the first few years after his death, and that among the early Christians there are no further statements or references to the fact that they saw him later. In a word, all our views come from one generation, and therefore we cannot consider them final, but only preliminary and partial.
3. Those who have departed, all with one voice, indicate that the transition is usually easy and at the same time painless and is accompanied by an immense feeling of peace and tranquility. A person finds himself in a spiritual body, which is an exact copy of his physical body, excluding his illnesses, weaknesses and deformities, to which the new body is not subject.
This body stands or hovers near the old body and at the same time is aware of it and the people around it. At this moment the deceased is closer to matter than he will ever be later, and therefore it is at this time that most of those cases occur when his thoughts turn to someone living at a distance, and when his spiritual body rushes together with thoughts and appears to this person.
Such appearances most often occur at the moment of death, when the new spiritual body is still so close to matter that the eyes of a sympathetic person can perceive it, which, however, cannot happen later.
4. Still, compared with the total number
a lot of deaths, these cases are extremely rare. IN
I'm mostly inclined to explain this by saying
that the deceased person is too concerned
in their own unusual ways
chatting and experiences, in order
to think a lot about others. Soon he
to his amazement he discovers that
although he tries to communicate with those
ethereal touches are equally impossible
we have any influence on a person
Russian organs, tuned only to more
gross pathogens.
This is a fertile subject for thought and research, although there is no more complete knowledge of the light rays, which we know exist on both sides of the spectrum, nor of the sounds, the existence of which we can prove by the vibrations of the membrane, although these sounds are too high in order to be perceived by our ears, will not advance us one step in psychic knowledge. Therefore, leaving all this aside, let us follow the fate of the departed spirit.
5. Now he already realizes that here in
room, next to those who were in
during his lifetime, there are others, and
among these others who represent
appear to him as real as
alive, he recognizes familiar faces and feelings
how they shake his hand and kiss him on the
the lips of those whom he once loved on earth
and then lost it. Then together with them and with
with the help and guidance of someone
radiant being who stood
the new arrival was waiting right there, he,
to his surprise, rushes through
all obstacles and material obstacles
Let's go towards your new life.
6. This is a very definite statement
tion, and this story is repeated by everyone,
one after another, with persistence, which
paradise inspires confidence. All this is already very
different from any old theology. Spirit
is not a fallen or rejected angel,
but just the man himself with all his merits
virtues and shortcomings, wisdom and
stupidity, just like with his appearance
It is quite possible to believe that the most empty and stupid people, shocked by such an unusual and terrible test, will be so frightened that they will immediately and suddenly change; but these impressions will soon become dull and erased, and then the former disposition of these people will be established in new conditions, and fools will remain fools, which is also confirmed by some of the results of our sessions.
new life, the spirit must survive the time
sleep, unconsciousness, which can
last for very different times, barely at all
existing among some and expanding among others
huh for weeks and months.
It seems to me that the duration of this sleep is determined by the total amount of worries and mental overstrain in earthly life, since a longer rest provides greater opportunities for forgetting them. This is, of course, only a simple supposition, but there is complete agreement of opinion regarding the existence of this period of oblivion after the first impressions of the spirit from the new form of its life and before it begins its new duties.
8. Having awakened from this dream, the spirit
weak, like a weak newborn can be
child. The strength, however, is soon returning,
and a new life begins. It's a let down
us to consider the problem of heaven and hell.
There is no hell as a special place and
permanent. But the idea of redemption, eyes
suffering, i.e. purgatory, under
confirmed by messages from the other world.
Without such punishment there would be no justice in the world, because it is impossible to imagine that, for example, Rasputin and Father Damian would have the same fate. The punishment is quite certain and very serious, although in its least severe form it amounts to the fact that the grosser souls are in the lower regions and with the knowledge that their earthly deeds determined for them there, but for them there is also hope that the redemption and help of those above will educate them and raise them to the same heights as those who now deserve to be above them. Higher spirits devote part of their activities to this cause of salvation.
9. Leaving aside, however, these
powers of trial and redemption, which,
perhaps we should consider
rey as a hospital and school for the weak
shower, rather than serving time in prison
criminals serving their sentences, let's say that
messages from the other world are all consistent
with each other is that living conditions in
the other world to the highest degree
pleasant. They agree that
what is similar strives for the only begotten with him; that those who love each other or have common inclinations and interests unite and live together;
that life is full of interest and activity; and that the spirits never want to return back to earth. All this, of course, is extremely joyful news, and I repeat that this is by no means a humane faith or a vague hope, but the indisputable facts themselves, which are supported by all the laws of evidence, according to which, if a lot of evidence independent of each other gives similar testimony, then these testimonies have the right to be considered the truth.
10. Every spirit in the flesh passes into
the next world is exactly as it is
Yes, without any changes. Death
painless. People dress like
to be expected since there is no nickname
what are the reasons to abandon modesty in
new conditions.
And our body, under these conditions, is an exact copy of our “earthly body, but in its best form, that is, the young are becoming mature, and the old are getting younger, and everyone, thus, is in the prime of life. In their world there is no bodily pain, but there may be mental torment. Life has a great resemblance to life on earth in its best form. In that world, life is predominantly spiritual, just as in this it is physical. All-consuming worries about food, money, all kinds of lusts, pain, and the like. come from the body and therefore are absent there. They have pleasures - music among them Music, arts, intellectual and spiritual knowledge have been greatly enriched, and their development continues.
11. Spirits live in families and communities
by you, because, as it should be,
give, everything similar strives for the only begotten
noma with him, and the male spirit finds its
a real friend, although there are no sex
there is no sexuality in the rough sense of the word
childbirth. Husbands and wives optional
do occur, but those who actually
They really loved each other and will definitely meet again.
12. Since connections are preserved and remain
are at the same level, one should expect
that nations are still roughly divided between
myself, although language is no longer
an obstacle, because a means of
Thought itself serves as a source of inspiration. Man there
knows more than he knew during his lifetime. Perfume
enjoy excellent reference
library or have incredible
memory, producing something like
This is a world of light and laughter. The general conditions of life are much happier than on earth. The spirits are happy and do not want to return to earth.
They are ruled, they have neither rich nor poor, they eat food.
13. Spirits pray and die in their
world before entering another. Wednesday
there are Catholics, Protestants,
Dists and Mohammedans, but everyone lives alone
Kovo Everyone admits that not a single earthly
religion has no advantages over
different, but what character and sophistication
determine everything. At the same time, everything is
We are open to the fact that all praise is due
pillars of religion that establish prayer,
defending the purity and nobility of souls
shi that inspires contempt for worldly deeds
In this sense - and in no other - as a support for spiritual life, any form of religion can be suitable for someone. If the rotation of the brass cylinder makes the Tibetan think that there is something higher in the world than its mountains, and something more valuable than its yaks, then at this level this is already good. We shouldn't be too picky about such things. But even if a person does not believe in God, he will not suffer for it in the next life, although, it is true, he will not achieve a high position in it.
Prayer, however, is a wonderful thing because it keeps us in touch with the spirit world.
14. Life expectancy in their
world less than on earth. All approved
they give that life on the other side continues
lasts for a limited time, after which they
move into yet other stages of existence
People of similar thoughts, tastes and feelings strive for each other and live together. The spouses are not necessarily reunited, but the love of man and woman continues and is free from everything that here we have that prevents its full expression. Immediately after death, a person plunges into a semi-conscious state of rest, the duration of which varies from person to person. They are not able to experience physical pain, but at times they are subject to mental anguish. A painful death is completely unknown.
Belonging to one faith or another does not create differences in their situation in the next world, and their whole life as a whole is extremely happy, and no one there is able to imagine that he would suddenly wish to return to earth.
I never came across the word “work” as such, but there were many indications of the different kinds of interests that occupy them. This is probably another way of saying the same thing. With us, “work” usually means “means of subsistence,” and this, as I know for certain, is not the case with them, since all their vital needs are somehow “foreseen” in the most mysterious way. They say that everything that we love and that is necessary for our happiness on earth accompanies us in the next life.
I also have not come across any definite information about any “temporary punishment,” but I have indications that people there begin their lives at the mental and moral level with which they leave this earth; and since their happiness is based mainly on sympathy, those who come there with a low level of moral development are initially deprived for a long time of the opportunity to appreciate and enjoy this happiness.”
16. We should not forget that everything depends
sits from correlation with one’s environment.
If we could imagine the world that
one would be a thousand times denser, heavier
longer and darker than ours, we clearly saw
would be that for its inhabitants it will be a
be the same as we think
ours, provided that the strength and fabric are in it
will be in the same condition. EU
whether, however, the inhabitants of such a world are in
touch us, then we will seem like su to them
highly airy creatures
we live in some strange at
atmosphere of light and spirit. They, perhaps,
will not remember what we feel and act
we sing the same way as they do, provided that
our being and environment are in harmony
yut and correlate with each other.
17. Now let's look at another
another case - with the life layer, which
how much we surpass the world of lead
of people. It will then also seem to us that
these people, these “spirits” as we call them
They live in a world of mists and shadows. We
At the same time, we don’t take into account that everything there is
walks in accordance with both harmony and
this is the area in which spirits live and
moving and which seems to us the world
illusions and dreams, for them it is as real as our planet is real for us, and the spiritual body is as material for another spirit as our earthly body is material for other people.
18. There is another question, deservedly
living to be here
looked at because at first glance
he may even be able to terrify,
although still amenable to analysis, since
We'll get to it soon. I have in view
do constant affirmation from out of place
from the outside world about having just arrived
they don't know that they died and what about
takes a lot of time, sometimes too much
a lot before they find themselves way
We understand this.
They all agree that such a state of confusion and uncertainty is very harmful to the spirit and retards its development, and that some knowledge of this primary truth on earth is the only way to protect oneself from the time of melancholy and despair in the afterlife. It is not surprising that they, finding themselves in conditions completely different from those for which any of the scientific or religious teachings on earth prepared them, perceive their new unusual sensations as a strange dream, and the more orthodox or materialistic their views were during life, the more difficult it will be for them to accept these conditions with all that they impose. For this very reason and for several others, this revelation is extremely necessary for all humanity.
The achievement of the least practical importance will be that even people of advanced age will have to understand how much they still need to develop their minds: after all, even if they do not have time to apply their knowledge in this world, then it will remain with them as an integral part of their mental wealth in later life.
19. This is in general terms simply
early life in its simplest form
marriage, because in fact she is by no means
is simple, and we only catch weak
sparkles of endless circles below,
relapsing into darkness, and endless circles
gov above, ascending to the divine
radiance that develops, defines and
brings life to everything and everyone.
20. Regarding large details
concerns about the afterlife,
then it’s probably even better to ignore them
speech for the simple reason that it
great details. We will all soon recognize them ourselves, and it is only idle curiosity that prompts us to ask about them now. One thing is clear: in that world there are spirits of a higher organization for whom synthetic chemistry, that which not only creates matter, but also makes objects from it, is commonplace. During some sessions we saw them at work in our grosser environment, to which our material sensations are attuned. If they can create visible objects even in earthly conditions, during some of our sessions, then what can we expect from them in their own environment when they are working on the creation of ethereal objects?
Generally speaking, we can say about them that they are able to recreate any object similar to one that already exists on earth. How they do this is perhaps a matter of conjecture and speculation to less evolved spirits, just as the achievements of modern science are a matter of conjecture and speculation to us. After all, if suddenly some inhabitant of the non-human world called one of us and asked him to explain what gravity is or what magnetism is, then how helpless we would look!
21. Famous English poet, lite
rhetorical critic, subtle thinker,
Gerald Massey in the following terms
Yakh expressed his attitude towards spiritualism
“Spiritism has become for me, as for many others, a true expansion of my mental horizon and the coming of heaven, the transformation of faith into actual facts; without it, life is more like a sea voyage, carried out with the hatches battened down in the dark and stuffy hold of a ship, in which the only light available to the traveler’s gaze will be the flickering of a candle; and now, as if this traveler was suddenly allowed on a magnificent starry night to go out on deck and for the first time see the majestic spectacle of the vault of heaven, blazing with myriads of lights to the glory of the Creator.”
22. If a person could see, the words
walk and feel all this and yet
remain unconvinced of reality
invisible intelligent forces around you, then
there would be good reasons to doubt him
rest in the health of your own psyche.
The one who saw, even dimly, through the canopy, the hands extended to him from the afterlife, and who touched them, even slightly, truly conquered death. There is something more powerful than just faith, and that is knowledge. Now, I affirm these things because I have knowledge of them. I don't BELIEVE, I KNOW.
23. Stand on the short leg with undeniable evidence.
Expand and spiritualize your thoughts. Show the fruits of this in your life.
Lack of egoism is the driving force of all moral development.
Realize, not as a matter of abstract faith, but as a tangible object, as tangible and obvious as, for example, the streets of the city along which you walk, the fact that we are stepping into another life in which happiness will be available to everyone, and that happiness is can be delayed or even taken from us only by madness and selfishness during these few fleeting years. Imbue yourself with this majestic truth!
(From the book “A New Revelation” by Arthur Conan Doyle).
DESCRIPTION OF WHAT HAPPENS AFTER DEATH
received by Tommaso Palamidessi, as he writes about it in his book Technique of splitting and traveling in the supersensible), from a hierarchically high spirit, called the “Teacher of the Third Heaven,” during a “journey” according to the EKKANKAR method.
1. During the death agony before
in the mind's eye of a dying man
gt the final vision of all events and affairs
life. As they say, he looks through a “panoramic picture” of what he did good and bad during his stay on earth. Everything will last before him, as if he were looking into a mirror.
2. Some time, which for each
However, the dead usually do not know that they have died. For some souls, this ignorance lasts quite a long time, and suffering continues for a long time for them, due to the fact that they have a desire for action, but there is no opportunity to carry it out, or there is no opportunity to be heard by those who remained on earth, since the deceased now lacks physical body.
3. The dead are endowed with the form of a human
ical body, and they all claim that
found themselves again in this very form, for
with the exception of only those who belonged
reaped to the “heavens on high.”
4. At the moment of separation from the body, their meeting
there are those relatives and friends who have died
before. Such meetings have already taken place
several days before death; sometimes
this also happens during severe
5. After death they pass through fa
the sound of healing sleep, more or less
long-term These are real fainting spells
lasting three, three and a half days and more
Moreover.
6. The environment in which
they turn out to be similar to the one that
was with them on earth, but it is like
dreaming, spiritualized.
7. Deceased, i.e. discarnate do
shi, they learn that in the spiritual world thought
recreate your memories
surrounding himself in a familiar environment.
They learn it the hard way.
or according to the explanations of the spirits of relatives and others
Zey. All they have to do is think about something
the subject as it appears before them
and is specified.
8. The dead comprehend very quickly
what the conversation means say
words are nothing more than an illusion, but
how do they communicate with each other?
spiritual language, i.e. via direct
transmission of thought.
9. They discover that ability
spiritual vision allows them to perceive
take, see objects at the same time
both inside them, look through them, and
from all sides outside. This phenomenon occurs when
exists in spaces that exceed
three-dimensional. three dimensional space
characteristic of those who live on earth.
In a state of agony, the dying can see both relatives who are at the head of the bed and what is simultaneously happening in neighboring rooms or in another city many hundreds of kilometers away. The same thing happens to them after they die. This phenomenon is similar to splitting (duplication) in a living person. (For example, ekkankar).
10. They learn that just like themselves, so
and others can instantly switch from
one state to another, from one condition
viy to others, transferred from one month
one to the other, without any restrictions,
to any distance. All this is happening
simply by virtue of the very act of volition. This
allows them to move into their spirits
new environment, as well as fly on a larger
or lower height above the fluid
land, which in certain cases
can also be physical earth.
11. The deceased, like their other companions
ki living in this world find themselves
automatically and inevitably carried away
to that spiritual sphere which corresponds
due to an inevitable law, they are forced to gather
qualities and similarities. Therefore, the evil ones join us
are attracted to the evil ones and experience horror and
rotation from the presence of "demons". On
turnover, those who are good or perfect,
rush into a sphere similar to them, where
find themselves among friends and those who help them
cute, in the presence of "angels",
“saints”, “patron saint”, to which
Roma were contacted during their lifetime, fortunately
ha-driver, etc.*.
In the post-mortem state, the appearance that the face and body acquire reflects the beauty of the soul, its virtues and brings joy to other souls. In the worlds of difficult purifying and redemptive trials, souls acquire monstrous, repulsive, frightening guises due to the instability or fluid flexibility of their body, which feels all the passions, torments and painful states produced by the vision of the place in which they are, as well as the presence of others similar them dead.
12. The dead are greeted by the spirits of relatives and
friends who come to spend time again
arrivals before they board
restorative sleep, period of unconsciousness
telnosti. Help from family and friends
the more I remembered, the more I remembered
During his lifetime he used them in his prayers and the more often he ordered their commemoration in church. This is the law of recompense in accordance with the words of St. Paul (Galatians, YI, 8): “He who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
13. As for those whom the meeting
there are offended relatives and friends
or enemies and who have not yet reached the inside
of the early world and do not know how to love those who
caused them suffering, then I meet
those who protect them come to attack
them and plunge them into depressing conditions
viya, supported in this by the angel protect
body of injustice. It happens
before sleep begins, but also with
coming to one's senses after it.
14. The dead see their own
corpse in a coffin or on its deathbed and mo
you can also observe discharge and thicker
transfer of your etheric body over the phi body
zymic. This is confirmed by the clairvoyant
people who have ever been at
headboard of a dying person.
15. Individually disembodied
The two cannot be completely identical
veins, and therefore end up in complete
almost the same spiritual state,
so that we can continue to follow the same path together
the path itself. After the death of the soul-twin
people who were such on earth, in the world
spiritually they are also divided, although they may
we can see each other whenever we want
they want and wish. They will stay together if
they will have one common task and eslp
together they will surrender to the same experience
Tanya in the matter of spiritual elevation. Ha
the guarantee of being together is only E
one thing: to do a common cause.
16. Discarnate spirits (even if
they are able, by the power of thought, to more
or less good to create something that would
desired and what they need), when
we are talking about very complex work or
of great importance,
entrust this task to groups of spirits, spices
focused on the implementation of such
difficult work.
17. He who is owned by humans
passions, turns out to be tied to that
place, to the environment in which he lived, i:
this may or may not last a long time
for a long time. Being deprived of healing
th dream and being under the influence of inspiration
yourself as a person - man or woman
Noah depending on gender - living
among the living, he remains like E:
the power of a nightmare, strange and depressing:
dreams, which can make such spirits troublemakers and pests*. 18. The soul of the deceased suffers indescribably from the fact that it sees the torment and torment of loved ones whom it leaves at its deathbed. She freezes in indecision and does not find the strength to come into contact with those who have already found themselves in this new state before her.
She will have to make a great effort to free herself from the harmful influence of those whom she has just left.
BURTON BRIDGE
This is the name for speech contacts with the afterlife that occur with the help of radio equipment, computers, televisions and telephones.
This information is a summary of reports obtained through this method by German researchers Maggi Harsch-Fischbach and Dieter Virgowski.
1. A man after the death of his body about
must live on the Third Level, which
ry is as real as the Earth.
2. Those who live in that world have a body,
as we are. There are no diseases there.
Bodies mutilated on earth in that world
are being restored. Returns to the blind
Xia ability of vision, formerly deaf
have perfect hearing. Height,
hair and skin color remain the same,
what they were like during human life
earth. All the people living in that world
look like they've reached 25-30-
summer age. Old age and physical
deformities are completely unknown. People
live there in nicely furnished apartments
lischakh. They have a beautiful nature and soft
ky climate.
3. People who died on Earth in the past
at an advanced age, “awaken” there at
fully conscious after restoring
good sleep. In earthly terms it lasts
about six weeks, but maybe
roche. Children are welcomed with love
relatives and friends living there, who
who take care of them, and the children grow and
develop until 25-30 years of age.
4. Personality and character of those hit
there people are left without any of
changes. They can keep learning
improve.
5. People whose opinions and ideas
coincide, are combined into groups and
they will unveil Unity. This Unity is represented
represents the first step on the path to Chet
first dimension.
6. Dead earthlings live in that
forest death other planets of ours
material Universe, as well as with the best
forest creatures. There are collected
about 60 billion humanoids out of all
worlds. Friendship blossoms between them
and partnership, although it cannot be said that
all physical problems and conflicts
eliminated there.
7. Sexuality is not there in any way.
is not denied, since it is inherent
human essence. The main thing that
partners harmonized with each other and
experienced mutual attraction.
8. In that world, as here, people drink
and eat, but their food is produced synthetically
tically, any kind of earthly pi
now can be materialized there.
9. Higher animals also continued
ut live on the Third level after their
earthly death, and people care about them.
There are also species unknown on Earth,
example, birds of paradise, fabulously beautiful
high butterflies. In animals, the age is as follows:
which way they feel best.
10. The third level is located on the plane
neta, which its inhabitants call Mar-
duk. It is distant from the Earth in time and
space and cannot be found in
Solar system. Marduk has three
sun: it revolves around one, and
the other two are illuminated. There's never
there is no darkness. Marduk has his own
The moon, which is larger than Earth's. Planet
crosses one big River of Eternity,
which goes around it with numerous
11. After the transition to the Fourth Ism
man is liberated from the distant
new reincarnations in material
worlds. In order to carry out the
tact with earthlings, such people come
is trying to get closer to our world and
opportunities to adapt to it.
They, for their part, are also exploring
Transcommunication issues. Many of them
achievements may be useful to earthlings
FROM RECENT PUBLICATIONS ON THE TOPIC “LIFE AFTER LIFE”
The purpose of the experiment was quite vague for two young medical scientists - let's call them Enthusiast and Skeptic. Conduct the entire “Life after life” experience in laboratory conditions from start to finish. Eliminate all elements of chance, all natural (scientific) explanations: pharmacological - they decided not to use medications;
neurological - necronauts must be mentally normal;
It was one of the Sunday night shifts at the medical facility in the city of Ensk. Everyone was assembled. The Athlete was the first to lay down on the resuscitation table. This man was not religious, and he was also not burdened with knowledge of the specific “near-death” literature, starting with Kübler-Ross, Moody, Grof, Halifax, Sabom.
They defined the first necrostart as “High-speed extinction of the physiological functions of the body while fully maintaining clarity of consciousness.”
Humanly speaking, in a few minutes, and the last phase lasts even seconds, the person “moves away”, clearly aware of everything that is happening.
They had no idea how the killing method they had invented would affect the body. It is known that when a person dies, a certain qualitative change is accompanied by an impulse of an extremely complex configuration on the screen of an electroencephalograph. An electric silence follows.
This phenomenon was also noted by experimenters.
Later they gave it two interpretations. The first: the “impulse of transition”, a signal of an energy release, a “separation” of the soul from the body. Second: “finish signal” - all the brains are “short-circuited”.
So, the next second the Athlete was in a state of clinical death. All that remained was to sit and wait the allotted time.
Subsequently, they admitted that it was extremely difficult to withstand it. They intended to wait a minute, but “broke it” a few seconds too early.
Firstly, the necronaut experienced the state of being separated from the body and observing it from the side during the process of killing. In particular, being at a point behind the experimenters, he recorded the readings of one of the instruments, recorded on the experiment form, but not spoken out loud, which is confirmed by the magnetic recording that was carried out during the entire experiment.
After this, something happened to him that he found it difficult to describe. According to him, the picture of the world was “turned upside down” in a strange projection, a black void appeared from under it, and a feeling of moving at terrible speed followed.
The movement was accompanied by sensations similar to the reaction of the vestibular apparatus.
And suddenly he saw the Creature. It was located approximately three meters from him and resembled a fairly blurry, darker than “fog” shadow of a vertical orientation. When trying to determine during analysis whether it was a person, the necronaut was confused: “someone,” and that’s all. At first he impressed the necronaut as a man sitting at a table. Noticing (seeing? feeling?) the appearance of the necronaut, “The Man at the Table”, “The Dispatcher”, as he would later call him, showed attention to what had arisen.
And the Athlete felt a not very pleasant mental pressure. Finally, the “Dispatcher” turned to the Athlete. This can be roughly described as the most general question like “Well?”. Accompanying it was an unusual and unpleasant feeling, similar to the feeling of hunger - a sucking emptiness inside. The enthusiast, oriented towards Moody's concept, asked "then whether it was as if he had 'looked' right through you: what are you? What are you like?
Then he realized that he was being invited. But it’s also that you can’t move further, forward. If he does this, he won't come back.
It is characteristic that he continued to remember his task. He didn't move. The dispatcher expressed surprise: “What’s the matter?” The necronaut tried to answer with his non-existent mouth, he even felt the tension in his own larynx: “I don’t need to go there. I just have to look and go back."
Unfortunately, the necronaut could not say more. However, after the experiment he changed very much. His attitude towards the value of life became much more serious. When he was offered to repeat the experiment, he sharply refused, citing the fact that this time his chances of returning were extremely low: the second time the “Dispatcher” would not forgive him for his sin.
However, as the editors of the Intellectual World newspaper learned, the second necrostart did take place.
A good friend of mine the other day, during a routine, unremarkable surgical procedure, he almost gave his soul to God. At the very beginning of the operation, under the influence of anesthesia, his heart suddenly stopped. Doctors had to start the engine manually - first with an indirect massage, then with an injection of adrenaline.
Fortunately, everything worked out fine. His heart stopped, stood for a while and started again. Then the operation proceeded calmly and ended successfully. My friend would hardly have even known that he already had one foot in the next world if the doctor had not told him about it the next day during his rounds.
For the rest of the day, my friend digested and processed the information. In the evening, when I went to visit him, we had a lively and extremely emotional conversation.
There was nothing there, you understand! - my friend exclaimed, waving his arms, - not a ray of light, not a dark corridor. I did not observe myself and the doctors bending over me from the side - neither from the side nor from above. Neither demons nor angels met me. There was no Apostle Paul there (out of excitement, he apparently confused the functions of Paul and Peter). And I didn’t meet my dead grandmother either.....
I must say that my friend and I sometimes engage in friendly debates on religious and philosophical topics. And if I am biased towards atheism, only occasionally moving towards the position of agnosticism and very rarely, as an experiment, trying myself in the field of philosophical deism, then my friend rather gravitates towards various degrees of a religious-mystical worldview. He even went so far as to advocate to me the healing effect of a pilgrimage to the Pochaev Lavra.
Stories about posthumous religious experiences - in oral transmissions, on television and in relevant literature - have always aroused genuine interest in my friend. He learned to distinguish correct post-mortem visions from false ones and even made me study the book of Seraphim Rose. And suddenly he himself found himself in a state of clinical death - and nothing. Neither right nor wrong visions - none.
Absolutely nothing! Empty! Black! Well, it turns out - his thought, knocked out of the usual patterns, rushed further and further like a gallop - is there really nothing but emptiness there, in the next world? No heaven, no hell, no Apostle Paul? (This Pavel was given to him!).
I saw that in such a state one could try to make him, if not an atheist, then at least an agnostic. But I didn’t want that at all. Firstly, it is rude to take advantage of a person’s momentary weakness. Secondly, my friend is not only an intelligent and well-read person, but also extremely tactful, so arguing with him is a pleasure. Thirdly, I could not ignore the fact that in his doubts and confusion he proceeds from the wrong premises.
Calm down and listen,” I told him, “people talk a lot about clinical and biological death, about post-mortem experience.... There are many features and subtleties that we will omit for now. Roughly speaking, when the heart stops and breathing stops, this is not death in the strict sense of the word. The heart does not beat, the lungs do not breathe, but the body tissues still live. And only when irreversible changes in the brain occur from hypoxia can we talk about real death - that death from which there is no return, unless, of course, a general resurrection someday occurs.
As for the so-called “clinical death,” here we are dealing with the magical influence of the word “death” on the minds of ordinary people. Asystole, apnea, coma - yes, this is dying, but not yet death. It's just not a very good name that confuses many people.
You can't have two deaths - have you heard that? We have only one dare. What is called biological death is courage. Clinical death is still life, it is just a dying state.
Therefore, all cases of the so-called “posthumous” experience, all these rays of light, dark corridors, deceased relatives, angels or even demons - all these are the experiences of not dead, but almost dead people. They still relate to our material world, and not to the mountain world, even if we theoretically assume the existence of the latter. It is not surprising that the brain in an agonal state produces fantastic images.
Equally, it is not surprising that many people, including you, do not see anything at all in a state of clinical death. This is comparable to how many people do not see or remember dreams.
In general, the emptiness of your dying visions says nothing either for or against the presence of the other world. You were not in the next world. You didn't die. And you don’t have any posthumous experience - just as no one living today has it.
Yeah,” my friend jumped up joyfully, “so you still admit that another world exists?” So, somewhere deep down in your soul you also believe in God?...
And not at all.. - I began, but then our argument went along roads that had been traveled and studied many times.
And my friend is being discharged tomorrow.
In the previous chapter we analyzed in detail the hour of death, which shakes the whole person, because the soul is separated from the body with which it formed an inextricable unity. The saints of the Church prepare for this hour throughout their lives. And when that hour approaches, they pray a lot.
From ascetic writings we see that ascetics attach great importance to how people die, and attach particular importance to whether they were aware of death at the time of their passing. They consider it very terrible for a person to die without realizing it, for him to move “from death to life” without having full awareness of this event and, naturally, without prayer to God. Therefore, at that hour they prefer to remain alone and indulge in prayer.
In this chapter we will return to this topic because we wish to touch upon the so-called after-death experiences, which have been widely discussed in the Western world. As far as we know, people were greatly impressed by the stories of those who somehow returned to life and described what they saw. This impression arose among people because in the Western world the existence of life after death was partly forgotten. There they began to believe that a person ends his existence with the end of biological life. Accustomed to exhausting human existence with what lends itself to logical analysis, people discover a different, new world and are amazed.
These modern testimonies, the so-called posthumous experiences, did not make such a great impression on the Orthodox world, because the writings of the holy fathers speak about such issues. Therefore, they are known to the Orthodox. As we have seen, the fathers describe, as far as possible, the states associated with the departure of the soul from the body.
It is necessary to emphasize the presence of several facts of the resurrection of the dead, such as the resurrection by the prophet Elijah of the son of the widow from Zarephath of Sidon, three resurrections performed by Christ (the son of the widow of Nain, the daughter of Jairus and Lazarus), as well as the resurrection of Tabitha, performed by the power of Christ by the Apostle Peter. But none of them, as far as we know, described what exactly happens when the soul leaves the body, what happens in another life. At least we have no recorded descriptions of what the soul feels when it lives outside the body, and what feelings come over it when it reenters the body and continues to live in familiar conditions. Those who were resurrected during the earthquake that occurred at the time of Christ’s death on the cross did not preserve for us their experience.
One explanation for this phenomenon may be that Christians were not impressed by such curious things. Because they have the word of revelation and they know that through the commandments of God they need to be healed. And God’s commandment, as can be seen from the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, is very clear: They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them(). Therefore, they were not interested in collecting evidence of post-mortem experiences. Moreover, the word of Abraham, that is, God, that if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were raised from the dead, they will not believe(), shows that a carnal person will not believe if he hears even the most incredible things. He would rather attribute it to other reasons.
Below we will try to very briefly consider these new phenomena that have been noticed and recorded, analyzing them from the point of view of Orthodoxy.
Modern post-mortem experiences
Similar evidence had existed before, but the uproar that arose in America in recent years arose from the observations of the psychotherapist Moody. After the publication of his book, due to the interest that arose among the reading public, other books devoted to this topic appeared.
Moody collected the testimonies of one hundred and fifty people, but focused his research on the fifty who had both near-death and post-mortem experiences.
Father Seraphim (Rose) made an analysis and critical assessment of Moody's views in his book. It must be said that Father Seraphim, an Orthodox man, considers Moody’s views from the point of view of the Orthodox holy fathers and draws the right conclusions. He is quite deep in his assessments and helps us consider the issue that concerns us in a broader framework. In presenting and analyzing posthumous experience we will use the book of Father Seraphim (Rose).
Western scientists have noticed that some people, at the time of their death, or when returning from death to life, said that they saw very strange and unusual things that could not be explained by classical medicine.
There are many reasons for such evidence.
The first reason is the approach of human existence to death. When the soul approaches its departure from the body, then it experiences a new state for itself. Death is truly a boundary event in a person's life. Then man is in the midst of biological life and the life of the soul without a body.
The second reason is the approach of good and evil spirits, as many saints speak about this, the testimonies of which we have already cited. If a person finds himself under the influence of demons throughout his life, but also has the help of Angels, all the more so does this happen at the hour when the soul is separated from the body.
And the third reason is the progress of medicine, which allows people to experience a state of clinical death for several hours and even days, as medicine itself states. It was noticed that the number of people who returned to life after clinical death increased when artificial technical stimulation of the stopped heart was performed.
So, to the already known two reasons for which the so-called post-mortem experiences arose, another reason was added related to the development of medicine. If we add brain diseases, as well as strong medications that are given to seriously ill patients, then with their help we can interpret some of the hallucinations that occur in people at such hours. Consequently, all these states are lumped together, mixed, and dividing them into categories is not at all an easy task.
Second a common theme in post-mortem experiences is “meeting others.” As Moody says, the soul feels this loneliness for a short period of time because it soon begins to feel that it is meeting with others. Not only after death, but also before death, she sees her deceased relatives and friends. The following description is typical:
“The doctor gave up hope of saving me and told my family that I was dying... I realized that all these people were there, almost seeming to be floating in crowds near the ceiling of the room. These were all people I knew in a past life, but who had died before. I recognized my grandmother and the girl I knew as a schoolboy, and many other relatives and friends... It was a very happy event, and I felt that they had come to protect and see me off.”
Third The common theme in these post-mortem experiences is the "presence of light" or "luminous being". Everyone who has had such an experience describes the phenomenon of light, the brightness of which increased very quickly. Everyone recognized him as a person full of warmth and love. She attracted the deceased. Some claimed that it was Christ, others that it was Angels. The following two pieces of evidence are typical.
First: “I heard that the doctors said that I was dead, and then I felt as if I had failed, even as if I was floating... Everything was black, except that in the distance I could see this light. It was a very, very bright light, but not too much at first. As I got closer to it, it got bigger.”
Second: “I was out of body, that's for sure, because I could see my own body there on the operating table. My soul is out! At first I felt really bad about it, but then this really bright light appeared. At first it seemed a little dim, but then it turned into a huge meadow... At first, when the light appeared, I was not sure what was happening, but then it asked, sort of asked: am I ready to die?
These are very illustrative examples. They prove that in those moments a person feels the existence of another world. Here we will not consider each experience in detail, but we only want to emphasize that all affirm the existence of something other than what we perceive with our senses and can analyze with our reason.
Father Seraphim, citing these data, makes his critical remarks that similar cases occurred in the experience of the Church. At the same time, he notices that there is some confusion. We will not delve further here.
Throughout my pastoral ministry, I have heard many people tell similar stories. Some of the testimonies were their own, which they experienced during a serious illness, others were the testimonies of their relatives for whom they cared. While still a little boy, I witnessed one case when a woman, before her death, gave up her soul, sighed heavily and at the same time shook her fist at someone.
Such stories can be heard on the Holy Mountain. Many Holy Mountain residents told me stories about the last moments of the lives of both saints and sinners.
Let me give here a personal testimony that I learned from the illness of my elder, Metropolitan Kallinikos of Edessa. It directly relates to the topic we are discussing.
After surgery to remove a tumor on the brain, a cerebral hemorrhage occurred, and the old man fell into a deep coma. Doctors who observed him said that he was on the verge between life and death. The heart was working, but breathing was carried out using a special apparatus. If air had not been supplied, he would have died. Everything was possible. He could have remained in this position on artificial respiration, he could have died, he could have returned to life. When he came to his senses a few days later, with tears and great stress he recounted the following terrible event.
He said that it was not a dream, but reality. He was conscious and saw himself outside the body. His soul was watching the body that was on the bed, as well as all of us. And we were in great sorrow and were preparing for the funeral. He even pointed out that nurse, although there were many of them, who measured his body to order a coffin. He understood that his soul had left his body, and said that at that hour he performed a funeral litany for himself.
He had other experiences, but the one we have cited is the most typical and relates directly to the topic we are considering. Naturally, I do not know whether this was an out-of-body experience or the experience of a person near death. The fact is that it was an experience beyond the ordinary.
Criticism of this experience from an Orthodox point of view
It is not easy to judge these conditions because they are beyond the ordinary. As a rule, we judge everything based on our own experience and always within a logical framework. Often, many of us perceive the appearance of saints or angels to pure people during their lives as the result of emotional overload or painful psychological conditions. If any logical thinking person, even one of the learned psychiatrists, studies the visions of holy people, he may come to erroneous conclusions. However, such revelations, which abound in both ancient texts and modern oral traditions, are true.
It should be noted that we have no right to reject all experience simply because it is superior to our own. Of course, we need to be very careful and not accept any experience as true, because charm awaits us. We must trust mainly the word of God's Revelation, see in it the path to our salvation, and assign the unknown to the Providence of God. There is no need to come to a complete rejection of everything, as some Protestants do, who believe that after death the soul is in an unconscious state or is in a hurry to immediately be “together with Christ.” But one should not behave like atheists who believe that the soul is simply the energy of the body, disappearing with it.
The Tradition of our Church contains descriptions of both the near-death experience and the experience of the afterlife. In the previous chapter we cited many such cases. Here we will focus on some very significant descriptions.
The Patericon reports the last moments of life before the dormition of Abba Sisoes the Great. From the presented text it is clear that there is no talk here of out-of-body experience, but of spiritual experience, because Abba was conscious and talked with those present. He told those who were with him that Abba Anthony had come, then a host of prophets, followed by a host of apostles. Each time his face shone more and more. At some point he started talking to someone. When those present asked him, he said that he was talking to the Angels who had come to take his soul. He also said that he asked the Angels not to take his soul, because he still needed to repent. Then his face shone like the sun, and the monk himself revealed that the Lord had come. Then he betrayed his soul. It was as if lightning illuminated the whole house, which was filled with fragrance.
In Evergetinos, two stunning examples have been preserved relating to the post-mortem state, to the so-called “out-of-body” life.
In one place it is told about a certain monk Peter, who, before his settlement in the desert, “died from a disease that came upon him.” Then he saw all the torments of hell and the endless sea of fire. He also saw some of the mighty of this world hanging up to be tormented.
Some shining Angel forbade him to be thrown into that fiery place. Then his soul returned to his body. “Awakened from the sleep of eternal death” and “returning again to the body,” he preached everything he saw and lived in repentance.
The second passage tells about a certain man who wanted to become a monk. He did not bow to the entreaties of his mother, who asked that he remain with her, but left, saying that he wished to save his soul. Soon his mother died, then that monk died. He fell into a serious illness that threatened his life. During this illness, “finding himself unconscious, he took off his body and was caught up to judgment.” Then he met his mother along with the condemned, that is, with those tortured in Gehenna. She was surprised and asked how he ended up in this place, because he became a monk to save his soul. And then a voice was heard, commanding him to be taken from that place. “Immediately recovering from the frenzy, he told those present about what he had heard and seen...”
Both of these examples refer to the after-death experience, the so-called “out-of-body” state. As we will see later, this happened according to the divine economy. That is why we say that it is impossible to reject such an experience, because we also encounter it in Church Tradition.
But it should be noted that it would be a huge mistake to identify all examples, all described cases and conditions, when we do not have the opportunity to divide them into categories. Some of them are the fruit of a psychological state, others are the fruit of satanic influence, and others are the grace and blessing of God. Below we describe some of these differences.
There is a difference between the so-called “clinical death experience” and the “near death” experience. “Clinical death” occurs when a person lives thanks to devices and mechanisms, and doctors believe that the person is actually dead. It’s just that the heart’s function is supported by various medications. Of course, even in this case we are not sure that the soul left the body. In any case, this is a state bordering on death. But the experience “on the threshold of death” differs from “clinical death”, because in most cases people are aware of what is happening, speak, and sometimes are unconscious. We have no right to identify both of these cases.
Another distinction exists between illusions, hallucinations and real events that occur while the soul is preparing for its departure from the body. Hallucinations cannot but depend on medications, various diseases and the technical means used. When experiencing genuine events, a person’s consciousness does not leave.
There is also a difference between demonic and divine phenomena. This category does not fall under the previous cases. We are talking about seeing Angels or demons. There are many examples of this, we have given many of them, so there is no need to return to them again.
Most importantly, there is no need to identify and confuse all pre-death and post-mortem experiences, do not trace them to one cause, because in this way we will create complete confusion.
Experience difference
Everything we have presented here leads us to the need for some criterion to distinguish between these states. We Orthodox Christians, having living tradition, are in a more advantageous position because we can judge these phenomena.
Evangelist John in his Catholic Epistle gives Christians the following advice: Beloved! Believe not every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God ().
In Orthodox theology we attach great importance to the virtue of reasoning. When it is there, it is obvious that a person has the grace of God. True theology consists in distinguishing between spirits: whether they are from God or from Lucifer. That is why it is said that such a theologian who is able to judge thoughts and visions is a non-delusional spiritual father.
Reasoning presupposes the presence of spiritual knowledge and spiritual life. This is clear from the teachings of the holy fathers. St. Maximus the Confessor says that from abstinence comes dispassion, and from dispassion comes reasoning.
The Holy Fathers attach great importance to reasoning, because it is connected with genuine knowledge. According to the Monk Diadochos of Photiki, to accurately distinguish good from evil is the light of true knowledge. St. John Climacus says that reasoning is a lamp in the darkness, the return of the lost, the enlightenment of the blind. A sensible person gained health and destroyed, that is, healed the disease. The fact that the virtue of prudence has a great price is clear from the words of St. Anthony the Great that there are some people who exhausted and humbled their bodies through heroism, but without acquiring the gift of reasoning, “found themselves far from God.”
From this it is clear that reasoning is a gift of God associated with the spiritual state of a person. St. John the Sinaite says that the reasoning of beginners in spiritual life is connected with true knowledge of themselves; among the average, with an intelligent feeling that unmistakably distinguishes true good from the natural and the opposite; in the perfect - with the knowledge that comes from divine enlightenment and which enlightens what appears to others dark .
Everything that has been said about reasoning has been said in order to show that it is not easy to reason about the experience described by people who were at the end of their lives. Reasoning is the virtue of great spiritual fathers, who see the truth at the root, and do not examine external, superficial phenomena. They can discern whether the experience is the fruit of an unhealthy psychological state, or the appearance of the devil, or the fruit of the appearance of God and the saints.
Therefore, it is extremely difficult to undertake research into pre- and post-mortem experiences.
However, there are many external signs by which one can judge such an experience. Christ, speaking about false prophets who come in sheep's clothing, but inside are ravenous wolves, gives His disciples the following advice: By their fruits you will know them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ().
The criterion, therefore, is the fruits produced. If after any vision peace and silence reign in the heart, this indicates that the vision is from God. But if after it there is confusion, this is a sign that the vision is from the devil. The same thing happens with the passion of pride. If a person becomes proud after such an experience, it is a sign that he is under the influence of evil spirits. Those inspired by the grace of God usually humble themselves even more and say nothing.
Thus, experience is evaluated in accordance with the person’s subsequent life. From the two examples given from Evergetinos, this truth is obvious.
Monk Peter, who died and saw the horrors of Gehenna, and then returned to life, felt that this was so that he would repent. The angel, who prevented him from being thrown into the fire, said to him: “Come back and see how you should live after this, paying attention to yourself.” Saint Gregory the Dvoeslov says that God, by His wonderful Providence, allowed this death to happen, “so that he would not die an eternal death.” There is a possibility that people, after returning from the vision of hell, will not turn to repentance, but to greater condemnation. Returning to life after such terrible events, “they again remained faulty, and there was no excuse left for them.”
And another monk, who returned to real life after seeing his mother among the condemned, shut himself up in his cell and took care of his salvation, “repenting and grieving for what he had previously done in negligence.” He also repented of what he had done carelessly. It is said that he repented so much, his tenderness and tears were so great that some, seeing him, asked him to weaken his repentance for a while, so as not to be damaged “from immeasurable crying”!
No one can be left without tenderness and contrition after such an experience. If this happens or if a person falls into great pride, then either the phenomenon was demonic, or it was a sign of God, which the person distorts to condemn himself. Such experiences may lead to greater judgment.
And in the case of my elder, I can confirm that he spoke about what he saw only once and did not repeat it again. But this event produced in him a great, amazing and immeasurable repentance. He couldn't judge anyone. He felt that he was at the Last Judgment of God. And when one day I said a rash word to him, he became angry because I deprived him of the purity of his mind and opened the door to condemnation, while he, as he told me, remained a defendant in court. He often told me that if God made him healthy and he was worthy to celebrate the liturgy again, he would not preach, but would ascend to the pulpit and instead of preaching, proclaim: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (see). He reached the depths of humility and repentance. Therefore, I am sure that that experience, coupled with all his ascetic and dispassionate life, made him worthy of a truly venerable death.
In any case, if it is difficult for us to comprehend the type and nature of the vision, then the holy fathers advise resorting to those who have experience and knowledge of spiritual life.
Psychiatrists and scientists of this world are ignorant in these matters. They can only guess and feel that there is something beyond real life. But in any case, they are powerless to make a correct and accurate diagnosis.
To conclude the topic, we can say that a person approaching death experiences a different reality, about which he may have previously known nothing. We believe that the true life is the one we see. But since there is not only a sensory, but also an intelligent creation, then beyond the limits of the sensory world there is another world that cannot be analyzed by either the senses or the mind. He who approaches death approaches reality, approaches truth. Lies are associated with our imprisonment in the sensory world.
But a person’s mind should not be aimlessly scattered among various sights, even visions. The mind must have an unceasing memory of God, which is inextricably linked with the knowledge of its sinfulness. Therefore, it is not proper for our minds to become curious about so-called “supernatural” states. If someone has a certain experience, he should not be satisfied with it. Saints who had purity of mind, even when contemplating God, see their shame.
It will not benefit us if we see Angels or raise the dead, when we have not acquired knowledge of ourselves, when we have not raised our dead from passions and sins. God leaves us in this life so that we can repent and taste the Kingdom of God.
Quote from Gaspar Noe's film "Enter the Void", given as an epigraph to the scientific article "DMT simulates near-death experiences" authored by researchers at the Center for Psychiatry and the Laboratory of Neuroimaging at Imperial College London and the Department of Consciousness and Neuroscience at the University of Liège
On the border of worlds
The scientific history of NDEs began in 1975, when a respected researcher first became interested in them: Raymond A. Moody, Jr. In the book “Life after Death,” he analyzes 50 cases of people who experienced clinical blackout and looked into the “other world.” Since Moody's time, the scale has changed somewhat: already in 2009, the largest anthology summarized the experience of more than 600 scientific articles and comments from more than 3,000 interviewees. What are they researching?
First, the structure of the visions themselves. As a rule, during an afterlife trip, patients encounter mystical insights about the divine nature of existence, flights outside the body, an overview of one’s own life, and other dopings. And although such retrospective reports can be considered representative with great stretch, this does not prevent researchers from putting forward hypotheses about the causes of mysterious trips - this is the second thing.
For example, it is assumed that an increase in the level of carbon dioxide in the blood is to blame.
In ordinary life, the structure of the “I”, an established system of automation and forecasting, does not allow us to break out of the limits of the evolutionarily established standard of perception of the world and ourselves in it. But in conditions of lack of oxygen, the body does not coordinate with the brain and does not carry out the necessary commands.
Against the backdrop of loss of control, the brain, of course, begins to “panic” and unleashes chemical and electrical shocks wherever it hits. In particular, on the TPJ - the temporo-parietal node, which is responsible for synchronizing the body's systems and our awareness of ourselves (if you stimulate the TPJ, you will get an OBE - out-of-body experience) and the temporal lobe. It is also called the “zone of God”, since it is responsible for experiencing mystical events and insights in the spirit of Dostoevsky’s epileptic visits. This is how NDE is formed from different functional zones along a thread.
There are two mysterious problems with scientific explanations of NDE. The first British psychologist Susan Blackmore, a great skeptic of spiritualism and owner of her own out-of-body experience, who has studied NDE for a long time, describes it as follows:
If NDE is simply a cascade of neurotransmitters, half-sleep or the brain losing composure, then why does this experience develop into a narrative of transformation and renewal for different people?
Indeed, most people who have experienced NDE describe it as a turning point in their lives. As meticulous researchers add, a turn for the better - increased empathy, concern for the environment, increased self-esteem, and reduced fear of death. Only rarely do NDEs turn into a severe bad trip.
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In addition, there is repetition. After analyzing one and a half hundred descriptions of NDE, scientists found that at least every 4th one flies in a dark tunnel towards pacification and dissolution of the ego, which for 69% of people is visualized in the form of bright light. 64% see spirits and familiar/unfamiliar people performing strictly assigned functions.
What's interesting is NDE in its classic form (with visual images)are worried even people who are blind from birth.
What’s even more interesting is that the narrative of near-death experiences is suspiciously reminiscent of the cartography of the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thedol), an ancient “instruction for death” and a transitional state of consciousness.
In search of answers to mysterious questions, you can delve into the works of Jung and the manuscripts of Tibetan Buddhism, or simply shrug it off: one in four is not that much, and the cascade of neurotransmitters and related processes may well cause a sequence of hallucinations perceived as a “transformative” experience.
Another mystically sensitive issue is related to the on/off state of the brain during NDE. One of those who made some noise in this matter was the famous neurosurgeon Eben Alexander, who taught and practiced, in particular, at Harvard Medical School. In many ways, it was he, an authoritative and sane scientist, who finally transferred the study of afterlife tunnels from the area of interest of TV-3 scriptwriters to the scientific plane.
In the book "Proof of Heaven» Alexander analyzes his own near-death experiences and medical reports. The scientist comes to the conclusion that at the key moment his brain was not active - which means that the journey to the other world was made by consciousness, detached from the overweight body.
In 2013, an investigation by journalists got to the bottom of this claim, and many considered it to be refuted. In contrast to another illustrative case: the clinical death of Pam Reynolds, who, with her heart turned off, managed to fly over the operating room, spy on the work of the surgeon and overhear how the doctors staged Hotel California (“You can check out whenever you want, but you can never leave”). Many consider it far-fetched, citing the phenomenon of “anesthesia awareness” and the potential imperfection of the EEG, but not everyone. Analytical philosophers who advocate the immateriality of consciousness would say: yes, everything is logical.
In short, humanity has little scientific evidence that consciousness can function after the death of the body. This means that we are talking only about the maximum approximation to the border of the worlds, characterized by specific effects, sensations and narratives common to a surprisingly large number of people. And this, in turn, means that NDE can be reproduced without driving subjects up to their eyeballs in the Styx.
Reality is better
Researchers have not yet decided to trigger the Bardo-Thedol experience by driving the brain into a state of total crisis with the help of sensors and electrodes. But NDE still sneaks into laboratories through the back door, as is perfectly illustrated by experimental psychedelic therapy programs for terminally ill patients.
Patients who have previously experienced NDE (eg, cardiac arrest during surgery)reported that the course of psychedelics caused them extremely similar experiences.
In the placebo study we included in the epigraph (DMT models of near-death experience), the connection between psychedelics and near-death experiences is indicated more specifically: “After the administration of N,N-dimethyltryptamine, the phenomenological features associated with NDE are significantly enhanced.”
Raymond Moody, whom we mentioned earlier, also writes about this happy coincidence. And also followers of the “pharmacological NDE hypothesis”, who believe that DMT (which our brain usually produces in microdoses) is especially intensely released during the dying process. The hypothesis has been criticized on the basis that stress and near death may themselves lead to similar states of consciousness (see theories above).
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According to Anthony Bosis, a New York University psychiatrist who has studied the effects of psilocybin on cancer patients, a “narrative of transformation and renewal” similar to the NDE experience is found here: “Anxiety about death, depression, feelings of hopelessness and demoralization are dramatically reduced within a few days after the session." His words are confirmed by a number of studies.
While psychedelics With increasing authority in the scientific world, scientists are finding another way to reconstruct dying - with the help of virtual reality.
It turns out 50/50. On the one hand, VR perfectly manipulates the brain: we can integrate into the bodies of the opposite sex, purple, or even a Barbie doll and not feel a catch. VR deceives our basic settings like the “body diagram” - a model that the brain builds for the convenience of our life in space. It is so flexible that it can even be "reconfigured" using the rubber arm trick, where you think the fake limb is your own. It is not surprising that VR easily recreates the illusion of leaving the body - one of the essential signs of NDE.
What is important: when someone from the outside threatens a rubber hand, the cerebral cortex experiences the same anxiety as if the hand were really yours. The same applies to hallucinations - if you look at the brain mapping of someone who hears voices, the picture will be exactly the same as if the sound really came from outside.
Our life experience is a rather virtual thing. This is why VR, even in its infancy, causes such amazing changes in those who experience it: adults after the session in the body of a 4-year-old child, they perceive the world as slightly enlarged, and themselves as younger.
For white-skinned people who have been in the body of black people, the subconscious tendency to prefer one race over another decreases. In short, everything you experience in VR, you experience in reality. What about death?
Attempts to immerse someone in a full-fledged afterlife trip are still reminiscent of sketches for video games. For example, they look like this: 15 experimental participants live on an idealized virtual island in virtual bodies for six sessions. They go through a mini-cycle of growing up and aging, come into contact with each other, observe the death of their companions, and in the last session, their own. Moreover, the researchers recreate all the external signs of classic NDE (exit from the body, overview of virtual life, tunnel leading to white light). After “death,” participants watch the continuation of “The Last Hero” and their own funeral with the erection of a monument from an external screen.
However, even such a comical attempt to live life and survive death gives pleasant results. Not comparable to real NDE in intensity, but close in meaning. All participants in the experiment noted a change in their attitude towards the world: the development of empathy, an increase in interest in global problems compared to mortal-material ones, and a decrease in the fear of death. The control group did not report such insights.
Look at her
The famous anthropologist Anthony Becker would say that the power of such experiences lies in the acceptance of the fact of one's own finitude. In his book Denial of Death, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1974 and is based on the works of Kierkegaard and Otto Rank, he writes that much of our entire noisy civilization (if not all) is built on overcoming the fear of death and anxiety about this check. Becker also suggests “practicing death” - reflecting on the inevitable end as close as possible to it (sages have been talking about this since ancient times).
The order memento mori is doubly relevant for modern man, since the idea of death is rapidly disappearing from our existence. A typical resident of Washington, Berlin or Moscow does not see active dying around him, like, for example, a local Varanasi , calmly washing clothes in the Ganges River next to the corpses that had just been “buried” in it.
A more gentle picture of dying is also not available to modern people: for example, according to statistics, only 25% of Americans die at home, the majority in nursing homes or other institutions. We cannot even wholeheartedly join in the rite of passage, which the ancients used for existential adaptation.
According to the theory of managing the fear of death (terror-management theory, or TMT), which arose on the basis of Becker’s ideas, even when walking through a cemetery or learning about the illness of loved ones, we subconsciously tend to put up a protective mental armor and fence ourselves off from thoughts about death.
DTA (death thought accessibility) theory -reads : We tend to think about death only when there is a threat (to us or to our cultural values or worldview).
Its virtualization in the media, cinema, and photography also helps us in shielding ourselves from death. What Žižek calls the “plurality of deaths” is the difference between the biological-organic and the symbolic body, the one-time physiological death and the multiple symbolic one. As sociologist Katerina Exley notes, regular broadcasts of death lead to alienation.
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Why this is bad is clearly shown by a study on the fight against terrorism, which involved 22 municipal judges from the state of Arizona. They were asked to set the amount of bail under which they planned to release the “decoy” prostitutes who participated in the experiment. Some of the judges first took a survey that included items like “describe the emotions that the thought of your own death evokes in you,” “describe as specifically as possible what you think will happen to you when you physically die.” Judges who completed the survey set bail 9 times higher than those who were not offered it.
The researchers concluded that thoughts about their mortality forced judges to turn to their own values and make what they considered better moral choices.
When a similar experiment was carried out with students, the logic was confirmed: those who considered prostitution “morally reprehensible” set a harsher bail, and vice versa. Experiments in which participants are asked to write about their own death for 6 days show exactly the same thing: reasoning about one’s own finitude and openness to the experience of death helps to move towards an awareness of internal values.
However, simple reminders of death should not be overestimated - the TMT meta-review notes that the effect of them is quite comparable to thinking about any other phenomenon that threatens meaning (for example, watching a surreal film). As the German philosopher Dolf Sternberger writes, the absurdity and nihilism of death cannot be overcome by intellectualization alone.
One of the main reasons for the transformative power of near-death experiences, which pulls from a person his evolutionary attunement of perception of the world and himself, is their ability to radically change the attitude towards death.
However, for the sake of this, it’s still not worth sticking a plug into the socket, because soon psychedelic therapy will be completely tested and VR will become completely grown-up.
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