Experience about life after death. Life after death, evidence, scientific facts, eyewitness accounts
If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then if
whoever has risen from the dead will not be believed.
OK. XVI, 31
1. What do modern experiments prove?
Thus, we have seen that the now so hotly discussed “posthumous” and “out-of-body” experiences are completely different from the genuine experiences of another world that have been found throughout the centuries in the lives of godly husbands and wives. Moreover, in recent years, modern experiments have gained such fame and become so fashionable not because they are really new (there are entire anthologies of similar experiments in England and America in the 19th century), or because in our time they occur more often, but mainly because the public mentality in the Western world and especially in America is ready for this. This public interest appears to be part of a widespread reaction to twentieth-century materialism and unbelief, a sign of a broader interest in religion. Here we ask the question: what could be the significance of this new "religious" interest?
But first, let's say again about what these experiments prove regarding the truth of religion. Most investigators seem to agree with Dr. Moody that these experiences do not support the ordinary Christian concept of heaven (“Life after death”); even the experiences of those who believe that they have seen the sky do not bear comparison with genuine visions of the sky in the past; even experiences of hell are hints rather than any proof of the actual existence of hell.
Therefore, Dr. Kubler-Ross's assertion that modern research into "after-death experiences" will confirm what we have been taught for two thousand years - that there is life after death and that this "will help us to know, not just believe" (Preface to “Life after Death”) should be considered exaggerated. In fact, one can say about these experiments that they prove nothing more than that the human soul lives outside the body and that immaterial reality exists, but they absolutely do not provide any information about the further state or existence of the soul after the first few minutes of death, or about the ultimate nature of the immaterial kingdom. From this point of view, modern experiments are much less satisfactory than the information accumulated over the centuries in the lives of saints and other Christian sources; from these latter sources we know much more - of course, with provided that we trust those who gave the information to the same extent that modern researchers trust those whom they interviewed.But even then, our basic position in relation to the other world remains faith, not knowledge: we can with some confidence to know that after death there is “something” - but what exactly it is, we comprehend by faith, and not by knowledge.
Moreover, what Dr. Kubler-Ross and her associates seem to know about life after death on the basis of “posthumous” experiences is in clear contradiction with what Orthodox Christians believe on the basis of the teachings of Christ and also “posthumous” experiences described in Orthodox literature. All Christian “posthumous” experiences confirm the existence of Heaven, hell and judgment, the need for repentance, heroism and the fear of eternal death of the soul, and modern experiences, like the experiences of shamans, pagan initiates and mediums, seem to indicate that there is a “resort” in the other world "with pleasant impressions, where there is no judgment, but only "growth", and that one should not be afraid of death, but only welcome it as a "friend" who introduces him to the pleasures of "life after death."
In previous chapters we have already discussed the reason for the difference in these two experiences: Christian experience is a genuine other world of heaven and hell, and spiritualistic experience is only the airy part of this world, the “astral plane” of fallen spirits. Modern experience clearly belongs to this category - but we could not know this if we did not accept (on faith) the Christian revelation about the nature of the other world. Likewise, if Dr. Kubler-Ross and other researchers accept (or sympathize with) a non-Christian interpretation of these experiments, it is not because modern experiments prove it, but because the researchers themselves already have faith in its non-Christian interpretation.
The significance of modern experiments therefore lies in the fact that they become widely known just at the time when they can serve as “confirmation” of a non-Christian view of life after death; they are used as part of a non-Christian religious movement. Let us now take a closer look at the nature of this movement.
2. Connection with the occult
Among researchers of post-mortem experience, one can again and again see more or less obvious connections with occult ideas and practices. We can here define the concept "occult" (literally meaning that which is hidden) as referring to any communication between people with invisible spirits and forces prohibited by God's revelation (see Leviticus XIX, 31; XX, 6, etc.). This communication can be sought by people themselves (as in spiritualistic seances), or they can be provoked by fallen spirits (when they spontaneously appear to people). The opposite of “occult” are the terms “spiritual” and “religious,” which refer to contacts permitted by God with God and His Angels and saints: prayer on the part of man, the grace-filled manifestations of God, Angels and saints on the other side.
Here is an example of such an occult connection: Dr. Hans Holper (Beyond This Life, 1977) believes that the significance of "after death" experiences is that they open people to a connection with the dead, and he believes that this results in the same messages that the “dead” give at spiritualistic séances. Dr. Moody and many other modern researchers, as we have already seen, look to the writings of Swedenborg and the Tibetan Book of the Dead for explanations of modern experiences. Robert Krukell, who is perhaps the most serious researcher in this field, uses messages from mediums as his main sources of information about the "otherworldly" world. Robert Monroe and others who engage in “out-of-body experiences” are pure practitioners of occult experimentation, to the point that they receive guidance and advice from the disembodied beings they encounter.
The most representative of all these researchers is probably the woman who has become the leading advocate of the new attitude towards death arising from the modern "post-mortem" experience - Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross.
No Christian, of course, can fail to sympathize with the cause that Dr. Kubler-Ross advocates - a humane and responsible attitude towards death, in contrast to the cold, helpless and sometimes fearful attitude that has often prevailed not only among hospital doctors and nurses, but even among the clergy, who are supposed to have the answer to the questions raised by the factor of death itself. Since the publication of her book On Death and Dying (1969), the whole subject of death has become much less taboo among medical professionals, helping to create an intellectual atmosphere conducive to discussion of what happens after death - a discussion that, in turn, was started in 1975 with the publication of Dr. Moody's first book. It is no coincidence that so many of today's books on life after death are accompanied by forewords or at least comments by Dr. Kubler-Ross.
There is no doubt that anyone who holds the traditional Christian view of life as a place of testing for eternity, and of death as the entrance to eternal bliss or eternal torment, depending on faith and earthly life, will find her book discouraging. To treat a dying person humanely, to help him prepare for death, without putting faith in Christ and the hope of salvation first when all is said and done, is to remain in the same dreary sphere of humanism into which unbelief has drawn modern humanity. The experience of death can be made more pleasant than it usually is in modern hospitals, but if there is no knowledge of what comes after death, or that there is something after death, the work of people like Dr. Kubler-Ross is reduced to feeding the hopelessly ill harmless colored pills so that at least it would feel like something was being done.
However, in the course of her research (although she does not mention this in her first book), Dr. Kubler-Ross did come across evidence that there is something after death. Although she has not yet published her own book on the "after-death" experience, she has made it clear in her many lectures and interviews that she has seen enough to know with certainty that life after death exists.
However, the main source of her knowledge is not the “posthumous” experience of others, but her own, rather amazing experience with “spirits”. Her first experience of this kind took place in her office at the University of Chicago in 1967, when she was frustrated and considering giving up her newly begun research on death and dying. A woman entered her office and introduced herself as a patient who had died ten months ago. Kubler-Ross was skeptical, but, as she says, the ghost finally convinced her: “She said that she knew about my intention to quit working with dying patients and that she had come to ask me not to refuse ... I extended my hand, to touch her. I was checking reality. I'm a scientist, a psychiatrist, and I didn't believe in such a thing." In the end, she convinced the ghost to write a note, and subsequent handwriting examination confirmed that it was the handwriting of the deceased patient. Dr. Kubler-Ross states that this incident occurred at “a crossroads where I could have made the wrong decision if I had not listened to her” (newspaper interview). The dead never appear among the living so prosaically; this otherworldly visitation, if genuine, could only be the appearance of a fallen spirit with the aim of deceiving its victim. And a magnificent forgery of human handwriting is a simple thing for such a spirit.
Later, Dr. Kubler-Ross's communication with the spirit world became much more intimate. In 1978, she told a captivated audience of 2,200 people in Ashland, Oregon, how she first made contact with her “spirit guides.” In a rather mysterious way, a spiritualist-type meeting was organized for her, apparently in southern California, where 75 people sang together to "increase the energy" needed to create the event. "No more than two minutes later I saw a giant foot in front of me. A huge man was standing in front of me." This man told her that she should be a teacher and that she needed first-hand experience to give her courage and strength in her work. “After about half a minute, another person literally materialized about a centimeter from my feet... I realized that this was my Guardian Angel. He called me Isabella and asked if I remembered how 2000 years ago the two of us worked with Christ. Then a third “Angel” appeared to tell me more about “joy.” My experience with these leaders was a great experience of genuine unconditional love. And I just want to tell you that we are never alone. Each of us has a Guardian Angel who is never more than two feet away from us. And we can call on them. They will help us."
At a medical conference in San Francisco in 1976 year dr. Kubler-Ross shared with an audience of 2,300 doctors, nurses and other health care professionals a "profound mystical experience" she had the night before. (This experience is clearly the same as the one related in Ashland.) “Last night I was visited by Salem, my spirit guide, and his two companions Anka and Willie. They were with us until three in the morning. We talked, laughed and sang together. They spoke and touched me with the most incredible love and unimaginable tenderness. It was the most important moment in my life." The audience, "when she finished, there was a moment's silence, and then everyone jumped to their feet in appreciation. Most of the audience, mostly doctors and other health professionals, seemed moved to tears."
It is well known in occult circles that the "spirit guides" (who are, of course, the fallen spirits of the airy kingdom) do not show themselves so easily unless the person is sufficiently advanced in mediumistic receptivity. But perhaps even more surprising than Dr. Kubler-Ross's connection with "familiar spirits" is the enthusiastic response to her story from an audience consisting not of occultists and mediums, but of ordinary middle-class people and professionals. Undoubtedly, this is one of the religious signs of the times: people have become receptive to contacts with the spirit world and are ready to accept the occult explanation of these contacts, which contradicts Christian truth.
More recently, scandals at Dr. Kubler-Ross's new retreat in southern California, Shanti Nilaya, have become widely known. According to these reports, many of the sessions at Shanti Nilaya are based on old-fashioned mediumship sessions, and a number of former participants have stated that these sessions are scams. It may be that Dr. Kubler-Ross's communication with spirits is more wishful than actual; but this does not affect the teaching about life after death that she and others like her spread.
3. Occult teachings of modern researchers
The teaching of Dr. Kubler-Ross and other researchers of the modern "after-death" experience on the question of life after death can be summarized in several points. It should be noted that Dr. Kubler-Ross formulates these points with the confidence of a person who believes that he has direct experience of communication with another world. But scientists like Dr. Moody, although their tone is more cautious and restrained, cannot help but contribute to the spread of this doctrine. This is the doctrine of life after death, which was in the air at the end of the twentieth century and seems natural to all who profess it, who do not have a clear idea of any other doctrine.
1. YOU SHOULD NOT BE FEARED OF DEATH. Dr. Moody writes, “Almost everyone has told me in one form or another that they are no longer afraid of death” (“Life After Death”). Dr. Kubler-Ross says: "Recorded cases show that dying is painful, but death itself... is a completely calm experience, free from pain and fear. Without exception, everyone reports a feeling of calm and wholeness." Here one can see complete trust in one’s own psychic experience, which characterizes those deceived by fallen spirits. There is nothing in modern “posthumous” experiences that suggests that death itself, in its entirety, will be a simple repetition of them: this trust in psychic experience is part of the religious spirit now in the air, which creates a false sense of well-being, fatal for spiritual life .
2. THERE WILL BE NO JUDGMENT OR HELL. Based on his interviews, Dr. Moody reports that "in most cases, the reward-punishment model of the afterlife is rejected even by many who are accustomed to thinking in these terms. They often find, to their own amazement, that even when the luminous being was their most disgusting and sinful deeds are clear, it reacted not with anger and irritation, but rather with understanding and even with humor" ("Life after death"). Dr. Kubler-Ross remarks about her interviewees in a more doctrinaire tone: "Everyone has a sense of 'wholeness'. God does not judge, unlike man." It never occurs to such researchers that the absence of judgment in “post-mortem” experiences could be a first, deceptive impression, or that the first few minutes after death are not the place for judgment; they simply interpret these experiences in accordance with the religious spirit of the times, which does not want to believe in either judgment or hell.
3. DEATH IS NOT THE ONLY AND FINAL EXPERIENCE, AS CHRISTIAN TEACHINGS DESCRIBE IT, BUT MOST LIKELY JUST A PAINLESS TRANSITION TO A “HIGHER STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS.”
Dr. Kubler-Ross defines it as follows: "Death is simply the shedding of the physical body, like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. It is a transition to a higher consciousness where you continue to perceive, understand, laugh, retain the ability to grow, and only "What you lose is what you no longer need, and that is your physical body. It's like putting away your winter coat when spring comes... and that's what death is like." Below we will show how this contradicts true Christian teaching.
4. THE PURPOSE OF EARTH LIFE AND LIFE AFTER DEATH IS NOT THE ETERNAL SALVATION OF YOUR SOUL, BUT AN UNLIMITED PROCESS OF “GROWTH” IN “LOVE”, “UNDERSTANDING” AND “SELF-REALIZATION”.
Dr. Moody finds that "many seem to have returned with a new model and a new understanding of the other world - a vision that is not characterized by one-sided judgment, but rather by cooperative development towards ultimate goal– self-realization. According to these new views, the development of the soul, especially the spiritual properties of love and knowledge, does not stop with death. It rather continues on the other side, perhaps eternally..." ("Life after life"). Such an occult view of life and death does not come from fragmentary experiences published today, but rather comes from the current air of occult philosophy.
5. “POST-DEATH” AND “OUT-of-BODY” EXPERIENCES ARE THEMSELVES PREPARATION FOR LIFE AFTER DEATH.
Traditional Christian preparation for eternal life (faith, repentance, communion of the Holy Mysteries, spiritual struggle) is of little importance in comparison with the increased “love” and “understanding” inspired by “posthumous” experiences; and in particular (as in the recently developed program by Kubler-Ross and Robert Monroe), terminally ill people can be prepared for "out-of-body" experiences so that they "quickly understand what awaits them on the Other Side when they die" (Wheeler " Journey to the Other Side"). One of Dr. Moody's interviewees states emphatically, "The reason I'm not afraid to die is because I know where I'm going to go when I leave this world because I've already been there" (Life After Life). . What tragic and ill-founded optimism!
EACH OF THESE FIVE POINTS IS PART OF THE SPIRITUAL TEACHING DISCOVERED IN THE 19TH CENTURY BY THE "SPIRIT" THEMSELVES THROUGH MEDIAUMS.
This teaching is literally invented by demons for the sole and obvious purpose of undermining traditional Christian teaching about afterlife and change the whole view of mankind towards religion. The occult philosophy that almost invariably accompanies and colors modern "posthumous" experiences is simply the exotic spiritualism of the Victorian era distilled to a popular level, and is evidence that genuine Christian views are evaporating from the minds of the broad masses in the West. The “posthumous” experience itself, one might say, has no connection with the occult philosophy that is spread through it; he promotes this philosophy because the basic Christian precautions and teachings that once protected people from such alien philosophies have now been largely eliminated and virtually any "otherworldly" experience will now be used to promote the occult. In the 19th century, only a few freethinkers and excommunicated people believed in occult philosophy. But now it is so widely in the air that anyone who does not have a conscious philosophy of his own is quite “naturally” drawn to it.
4. “Mission” of modern “posthumous” experiments
But, finally, why are “posthumous” experiences so “in the air” and what is their meaning as part of the “spirit of the times”? The most obvious reason for the widespread discussion of these experiments these days is the invention in recent years of new methods of resuscitation of the clinically dead, thanks to which such experiments have received wider publicity than ever before. This explanation certainly helps to understand the quantitative increase in reports of "after-death" experiences, but it is too superficial to explain the spiritual impact of these experiences on humanity and the change in views about the afterlife that they promote.
A deeper explanation can be found in the increasing openness and sensitivity of people to "spiritual" and "psychic" experiences in general, under the very increased influence of occult ideas - on the one hand, and on the other, due to the weakening of both humanistic materialism and the Christian faith. Humanity is once again approaching the possibility of contact with the other world.
Moreover, this other world seems to be revealing itself to Humanity, WHO SEEKS TO EXPERIENCE IT. The "occult explosion" of recent years has been caused by a spectacular increase in paranormal experiences of all kinds and, in turn, has contributed to their spread. At one end of the spectrum of these experiences are "after-death" experiences, in which little or no volitional effort is required to contact the other world; At the other end of this spectrum are modern witchcraft and Satanism, where there is already a conscious attempt to communicate with and even serve the forces of the other world, and somewhere between these two extremes are a myriad of variants of modern psychic experiences from Uri Geller's "spoon bending" and parapsychological out-of-body travel to contacts with UFO creatures and abductions by them. It is important to note that a large number of these paranormal experiences were had by Christians, and one type of these experiences ("charismatic" experiences) is widely accepted as a truly Christian phenomenon. (A discussion of the charismatic movement as a mediumistic phenomenon can be found in Chapter VII of Hieromonk Seraphim’s book “Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future,” published by the Monastery of St. Herman of Alaska, 1979. – Transl.) In fact, the participation of Christians in all such experiences is only a striking indication of how lost Christian awareness of occult experience has become in our times.
One of the most eminent genuine mediums of our age, the late Arthur Ford—whose rise in veneration on the part of “Christians” and at the same time by unbelieving humanists is itself a sign of the times—gave a clear hint as to what the widespread use of occult experiments and sensitivity to them: "The day of the professional medium is coming to an end. We have been useful as Guinea pigs. With our help, scientists have learned something about the conditions necessary for it (communication with the world of spirits) to take place." That is: occult experience, until now limited to the circle of a few "initiates", has now become available to thousands ordinary people. Of course, this is mainly caused not by science, but by the increasing alienation of humanity from Christianity and its thirst for new “religious experiences.” About 50-75 years ago, only mediums and occultists, standing almost outside of society, had contacts with “spirit guides”, cultivated “exits from the body” or “spoke in tongues”; Today, these experiences have become relatively common and are accepted as normal at all levels of society.
This now famous rise in "otherworldly" experiences is undoubtedly one of the signs of the approaching end of the world. Having described in his “Conversations” various visions and experiences of the afterlife, St. Gregory the Great notes that “the spiritual world approaches us, manifesting itself in visions and revelations... As the world approaches the end, this world of eternity is seen closer... The end of the world merges with the beginning of eternal life” (VI, 43 ).
St. Gregory, however, adds that through these visions and revelations (which are much more common in our times than in his) we all see the truths of the future age imperfectly, therefore the light is still “dim and pale, like the pre-dawn light of the sun before rising ". How true this is of modern “post-mortem” experiences! Never before has humanity been given such stunningly vivid evidence - or at least hints - that there is another world, that life does not end and even has a clearer consciousness and life. For a person with a clear understanding Christian teaching about the state of the soul immediately after death, today's occult experiments can only confirm the existence and nature of the airy kingdom of fallen spirits.
But for the rest of humanity, including the majority of those who still call themselves Christians, modern experiences, instead of confirming the truths of Christianity, serve as subtle guides to deception and false teaching, in preparation for the coming kingdom of the Antichrist. Truly, even those who “raise from the dead” cannot convince humanity to repent: If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were raised from the dead, they will not believe (Luke XVI, 31). In the end, only those who are faithful to “Moses and the Prophets,” that is, to the fullness of revealed truth, can understand the true meaning of modern experiences. What the rest of humanity learns from these experiences is not repentance and the nearness of God's judgment, but the strange, alluring new gospel of pleasant "otherworldly" experiences and the abolition of what God has established to awaken man to the reality of the true other world, the world of heaven and hell - fear of God.
Arthur Ford quite frankly states that the whole mission of mediums like himself is “to use all the special gifts given to me to eliminate forever from earthly minds the fear of the passage to death.” This is also the mission of Dr. Kubler-Ross, and the “scientific conclusion of researchers like Dr. Moody: the “other world” is pleasant, and one should not be afraid to enter it. Two centuries ago, Emmanuel Swedenborg summed up the “spirituality” of those who believe in it : “I was allowed to enjoy not only the joys of body and senses, like those who live on earth, but also was allowed to enjoy such delights and joys of life, which, I am sure, no one has ever experienced in the whole world, which are higher and more exquisite than anything imaginable and what you can believe. Believe me, if I knew that tomorrow the Lord would call me to Himself, I would call the musicians today to once again experience true fun in this world." When he predicted the date of his death to his landlady, he was so glad, "as if I was going to a holiday, some fun."
Now let us contrast this attitude with the genuine Christian attitude towards death throughout the centuries. Here we will see how destructive it is for the soul not to have discernment in relation to spiritual experiences, to throw away the precautions of Christian teaching!
5. Christian attitude towards death
Although the occult teaching about the afterlife leads far away from the true nature of things, it begins with an undoubted Christian truth: the death of the body is not the end human life, but only the beginning of a new state of the human personality, which continues to exist separately from the body. Death, which was not created by God, but was introduced into creation by the sin of Adam in paradise, is the most amazing form in which man encounters the fall of his nature. The fate of a person in eternity largely depends on how he relates to own death and prepares for it.
A true Christian attitude toward death contains elements of both fear and uncertainty, precisely the emotions that occultism wants to abolish. However, in a Christian attitude there is nothing of the low fear that those who die without hope of eternal life may experience; a Christian with a pacified conscience approaches death calmly and, by God's grace, even with a certain confidence. Let's look at Christian death several great Egyptian saints of the 5th century.
“When the time came for the death of the Monk Agathon, he remained for three days in deep attention to himself, without talking to anyone. The brothers asked him: “Abba Agathon, where are you?” - “I stand before the judgment of Christ,” he answered. The brothers said : “Are you really afraid, father?” - He answered: “I tried according to my strength to keep the commandments of God, but I am a man, and how do I know whether my deeds were pleasing to God.” - The brothers asked: “Are you really not do you trust in your life, which was in accordance with the will of God?" “I cannot trust,” he answered, “because the judgment of man is different and the judgment of God is different.” They wanted to ask him more, but he told them: “Show me love, now do not talk to me, because I am not free." And he died with joy. “We saw him having fun,” his disciples reported, “as if he were meeting and greeting dear friends" (Paterikon of Skete; see Bishop Ignatius, vol. 3, p. 107).
Even great saints who die under obvious signs of God's mercy retain sober humility regarding their salvation. “When the time came for the great Sisoes to die, his face lit up and he said to the fathers who were sitting with him: “Behold, Abba Anthony has come.” After being silent for a while, he said: “Behold, the prophetic face has come.” Then he became more enlightened and said: “Behold, the apostolic face has come.” . And again his face became purely illuminated; he began to talk with someone. The elders begged him to tell him with whom he was talking. He answered: “The angels have come to take me, but I beg them to leave me for a short time to repent.” The elders told him: “Father, you do not need repentance.” He answered them: “I truly don’t know about myself whether I have begun repentance.” And everyone knew that he was perfect. This is what a true Christian said and felt, despite the fact that during his life he raised the dead with a single word and was filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And his face shone even more, shone like the sun. Everyone was afraid. He said to them: “Look - the Lord came and said: bring me the chosen vessel from desert." With these words he gave up his ghost. Lightning was seen, and the temple was filled with a fragrance" (Paterikon of Skete; see Bishop Ignatius, vol. 3, p. 110).
How different is this deep and sober Christian attitude from the superficial attitude of some of today's non-Orthodox Christians, who think that they are already saved and will not even be judged like all people, and therefore should not be afraid of anything at death. This position, very widespread among modern Protestants, is actually not far from the occult idea that one should not be afraid of death, because there is no eternal torment; undoubtedly, although unintentionally, she helped to develop such an attitude. Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria (11th century) in his Commentary on the Gospel wrote: “There are many who, deluding themselves with vain hopes, think of receiving the Kingdom of Heaven and, thinking highly of themselves, count themselves among the elect...” Many are called, then God calls many, or rather, all, but few are chosen, few are saved, worthy of election from God.”
The similarity between occult philosophy and the general Protestant view is perhaps the main reason why the attempts of some evangelical Protestants to criticize modern "after death" experiences from the point of view of "Biblical Christianity" have been so unsuccessful. These critics themselves have lost so much of the traditional Christian teaching about the afterlife, the air kingdom, the affairs and deceptions of demons that their criticism is often vague and arbitrary, and their ability to discern in this area is no greater than that of secular researchers, which is why they are deceived." Christian" or "biblical" experiences in the air kingdom.
A true Christian attitude toward death is based on an awareness of the critical difference between this life and the next. Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov) of Moscow summed up the biblical and paternal teachings on this issue in the following words: “Death is the limit by which the time of exploits for a person is limited and the time of retribution begins, so that after death neither repentance nor correction of life is possible. This truth was expressed by Christ The Savior with His parable about the rich man and Lazarus, from which it is clear that both immediately received reward after death, and the rich man, no matter how much he suffered in hell, could not free himself from his suffering through repentance" (Luke XVI, 26).
Therefore, death is precisely the reality that awakens in a person the awareness of the difference between this world and the world to come, inspiring a life full of repentance and purification while we have precious time. When St. A certain brother asked Abba Dorotheus about himself, why he fell into carelessness in his cell, the elder told him: “Because you did not recognize either the expected peace or the future torment. For if you knew this for sure, then at least the cell yours was full of worms, so that you would stand in them up to your neck, you would endure this without relaxing" (Abba Dorotheus. Teaching 12: "On the fear of future torment").
In a similar way, already in modern times, St. Seraphim of Sarov taught: “If you knew what sweetness awaits the soul of the righteous in heaven, then you would decide in your temporary life to endure sorrow, persecution and slander with thanksgiving. If this very cell of ours were full of worms and if these worms ate flesh our entire temporary life, then we would have to agree to this with every desire, so as not to lose that heavenly joy that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
The fearlessness of Protestants, like occultists, in the face of death is a direct consequence of ignorance of what awaits them in the future life and what can be done now to prepare for it. For this reason, true experiences or visions of the afterlife shake to the core and (unless the person has led a zealous Christian life) change
Among all the Christian writers and righteous people of our time, there is a man whose name is practically unknown in his homeland, but at the same time extremely popular among the Orthodox. Among the parishioners of our Church there are hardly those who have not even heard of Father Seraphim (Rose).
Some people love him, others not so much, but the fact that he has a whole range of interesting thoughts and reasoning can hardly be disputed. In September 1982, Father Seraphim rested from his earthly labors and gave up his soul to the Lord, which is why I would like to pay attention to some of his ideas. We will talk about the post-death experience of people who have experienced clinical death, or the near-death experience of people in the throes of death. This topic is mysterious and difficult, but let’s try to understand it a little, based on the testimony of Father Seraphim (Rose).
For a long time, the topic of post-mortem or near-death experiences was not of interest to doctors and psychologists at all. Genuine interest in it began to appear only at the end of the twentieth century. One of the brightest researchers on this topic is the American doctor Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. Father Seraphim sees the reason for this change in the development of technologies that make it possible to make an already stopped heart beat again. At the same time, rationalists and atheists classify the evidence of many patients who have experienced clinical death as hallucinations or simply prefer not to notice them. It is very important to understand this experience precisely in the context of the Christian worldview, since representatives of esotericism and occultism often speculate on it.
Father Seraphim argues that the problem of post-mortem experience cannot be solved without the original Christian concept as some starting point of reflection. As an example, he cites the research of the American psychologist and physician Raymond Moody, who collected 150 such evidence different people(and he personally interviewed 50 of them) and confused even about the possibility of giving at least some classification to the cases he described.
Based on the evidence collected by Dr. Moody, Father Seraphim identifies several elements characteristic of the post-mortem experience and gives them special significance, seeking to characterize each of them from the point of view of Orthodox dogmatics.
The first and most incredible element is the “light being”. Most witnesses to this phenomenon describe this phenomenon as a kind of light that is perceived by a person as a person, that is, despite the lack of recognizable and precise outlines, this creature still has a recognizable appearance. As a rule, a “bright being” has a warm and attractive property, and the attribution of traits of a particular personality to it depends on the past religious experience of the witness himself. Another feature of this creature is that it never makes any judgments about the life of the observer, but only gives him the opportunity to reflect on the meaning of his existence and death.
The most common opinion of the witnesses themselves regarding this phenomenon is that they regard it as the appearance of an Angel who is full of understanding and love and instills in them the idea of responsibility for life.
It must be said that the iconographic tradition Orthodox Church depicts Angels in the form of young youths in white robes and with wings. However, if we turn to the evidence of angelic apparitions in the Holy Scriptures, we will see that there is not always a description of angelic wings: “When they entered into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe” (Mark 16:5); “Mary... leaned down into the tomb and saw two Angels sitting in white robes” (John 20:11-12): “His appearance [Angel. - Approx. auth.] like lightning, and his clothing is white as snow” (Matthew 28:2-3).
If we turn to the patristic tradition, we also will not find a description of the presence of wings. For example, St. Gregory the Theologian, speaking about the nature of Angels, writes the following: “They are simple, spiritual, imbued with light, do not originate from the flesh and do not acquire flesh, but remain as they were created. For them in virginity the path of Godlikeness is prepared, leading to God, in agreement with the intentions of the Immortal, Who wisely rules the helm of the great world.” We can find similar descriptions in other fathers. Thus, St. Basil the Great asserts that Angels do not have any cover similar to our flesh and do not undergo changes; St. John the Climacus says that they are incorporeal and “always receive glory to glory and mind to mind.” The fact that Angels serve man is clearly explained to us by St. John Chrysostom: “God commanded that the higher powers serve the one who is on earth (man) - because of the dignity of the image with which man is invested.”
Thus, without going into further considerations, we can assert that the phenomena, actions and influence of the “bright being”, regardless of the religious experience of the witness himself, can be fully correlated with the Orthodox teaching about Angels. The apologetic meaning of this conclusion is that it is Christian angelology that provides the necessary intellectual basis for explaining the evidence of the near-death phenomenon of a “light being”.
The next element of the post-mortem experience is meeting other people. Father Seraphim writes that there is not a single case when the human soul remained alone for a relatively long period of time. Some witnesses describe the experience of meeting their deceased relatives. It must be said that this phenomenon has been known to science for quite a long time and it is associated not only with the experience clinical death, but also with the dying hours. “They,” Father Seraphim writes about learned psychologists, “state that the apparitions of deceased relatives and friends accompany the dying person for about an hour, but almost always during the day before death.”
Regarding this element of the post-mortem or near-death experience, it must be said that there may be a physiological factor at play, such as the effect of hallucinogenic drugs, high body temperature and disease or brain damage. However, Father Seraphim notes an important observation of specialists in this field, namely the fact that statistics tell us: “the most coherent and obvious otherworldly experiences occur in patients with the greatest degree of contact with reality, they are less susceptible to hallucinations.” Based on the described near-death experience recorded by competent specialists, it should be noted that in this context the most rational and logical conclusion seems to be the reality of the afterlife. But the question remains open: are these spiritual beings really who they say they are?
To begin with, it should be noted that the presented evidence does not pose any difficulty for the Christian worldview, since death is only the border between life and life, it is always accompanied by various kinds of visions and phenomena, regardless of the spiritual state of the dying person. It is here that Father Seraphim makes a clear differentiation between the so-called general experience of dying, which is of interest to the majority, and the grace-filled death of Orthodox Christians who strived for holiness throughout their earthly journey.
The first thing I would like to draw attention to is the fact that representatives of Hinduism, unlike witnesses of mortal experience from the USA, who are relatives, are visited by their Hindu gods.
Some doctors who point to this observation say that the difference in vision is the fruit of subjective cultural and religious views. However, the inconsistency of such an opinion is based on the basis that the religious views of a dying person would influence his near-death experiences only if they are considered as hallucinations, and even with a certain exaltation of consciousness.
To better clarify this problem, let us turn to the work of Dr. Moody, already mentioned by us. In the foreword to his book, Dr. Melvin Morse writes the following: “Many...researchers have documented that near-death experiences are real and not the product of hallucinations and pathological disturbances of brain activity.” Moody himself confirms this statement with the following conclusions:
1. There is great similarity in the descriptions of near-death experiences, despite the fact that these stories are not consistent with the generally accepted ideas of our cultural environment about life after death.
2. All of Dr. Moody's patients were not victims of psychosis, but were balanced and normal people who occupied a certain position in society, responsible positions.
3. In addition, all patients were able to distinguish dreams from reality and perceived their experience as reality.
Thus, based on the above facts, we can draw an intermediate conclusion that both the near-death experience of Christian righteous people and the same experience of other people (including Hindus) is an experience of non-material reality. All that remains is to indicate the nature of certain phenomena.
Let's turn to the Holy Scriptures. Regarding the pagan gods, the Apostle Paul writes: “For although there are so-called gods, either in heaven or on earth - for there are many gods and many lords - yet we have one God the Father, from whom are all things, and we are for Him and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” (1 Cor. 8:5-6). In another place, he clearly says who is really behind the appearance of a pagan deity: “When the pagans make sacrifices, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God. But I do not want you to have fellowship with demons” (1 Cor. 10:20).
In the patristic writings on the issue we have raised, we can find thoughts similar to the thoughts of the Apostle Paul. Thus, Abba Isaiah has the following reasoning: “When the soul leaves the body, the passions that it acquired during earthly life serve as the reason for its enslavement to demons; virtues, if she has acquired them, serve as protection from demons.” Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) says that Holy Scripture teaches us that after separation from the body, the human soul cleaves either to the Angels of light or to fallen angels, depending on the good or evil qualities acquired during earthly life.
Now it is necessary to say about the appearance of relatives. In this matter, Father Seraphim refers to the opinion of St. Gregory the Great, who in his “Dialogues” wrote that only after death the righteous and sinners can recognize each other. But the saints appear to the righteous during prayer, having the boldness to intercede for them before God. Father Seraphim points to this difference, arguing that it speaks of different experiences of death by the righteous and sinners, as well as different fates after the grave. The fact is that saints, as stated above, have the power to intercede for a person before God, while sinners, with the exception of special cases, do not come into contact with the living.
This logic of reasoning shows that behind the appearances of relatives, as well as behind the appearances of pagan gods, there are unclean spirits who take on the form that a person is best able to assume, while the cultural and religious ideological positions of one or another witness play only a secondary role. Thus, in the matter of the appearance of any “other” beings in a dying state, we see that the Christian experience of dying is fundamentally different from the non-Christian one in its integrity, spirituality and goodness, as well as from the appearance of a “light being”, which was discussed above.
The next and final element of the near-death experience that Father Seraphim talks about is the “out-of-body” experience. The term “out-of-body” itself means that a person feels outside his own body, he can see his own body from the outside, the people around him, but is not able to come into any physical contact with them. In addition, witnesses who have experienced clinical death report feelings of lightness, painlessness and warmth, as well as timelessness. “Time did not exist, it was not an element of out-of-body experience,” Dr. Moody said about this experience.
Here again it is necessary to address the issue of hallucinations, since visual-auditory hallucinations are partly similar to out-of-body experiences. Dr. Moody writes that even if we focused on the similarities and forgot about the differences between these phenomena, this would still not provide a full explanation of out-of-body experience with autoscopic hallucinations: “The whole point is that there is no explanation for them. There are many conflicting theories, but neurologists and psychiatrists cannot decide which theory to adhere to. Therefore, by explaining the experience of being “outside the body” with visual-auditory hallucinations, we are replacing one unknown with another.” Thus, we see that the attempt to explain the phenomenon we are considering from a materialistic point of view leads thought into a logical vicious circle, which gives rise to even more questions.
For the Christian worldview, it is not surprising that at the moment of death the soul is separated from the body and acquires an existence separate from it. On this occasion, Father Seraphim writes the following: “It is characteristic of our time of unbelief that people rarely use Christian concepts or realize that their soul is freed from the body and now experiences everything that happens; this new state in which they find themselves perplexes them.”
The evidence of the out-of-body experience of a person's soul described by Father Seraphim, Dr. Moody and other researchers refers to the first minutes or even moments after the death of a person. It must be said that in early Christian literature we will not find any explanations for this phenomenon, since the holy fathers usually focused on those events that happened later, and they relied on information from the Holy Scriptures and previous ascetics. Evidence of the state of the soul in the first minutes after death became possible only with the development of appropriate medical technologies that make it possible to bring a person back to life after cardiac arrest. Meanwhile, it is important to note that this question does not in any way contradict the Orthodox worldview; moreover, in the absence of a rational explanation, it is the Christian dogma about the dual unity of human nature that provides the necessary intellectual basis for this phenomenon.
We will not dare to give any theological assessment of the phenomena considered. Despite the above facts of post-mortem and near-death experience, we still know too little about it to intrude there with our rude mind. However, one obvious conclusion can be drawn: the Christian lifestyle allows you to prepare for the transition to the afterlife and not only not be afraid of death, but also find peace and bliss in it.
Archpriest Vladimir Dolgikh
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 can be 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 a 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, Orthodox man, examines 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 pure people during their life as a 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 St. Diadochos of Photikie, to accurately distinguish good from evil is light 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 evident from the words of St. Anthony the Great that there are some people who exhausted and humbled their bodies through heroic deeds, but, not having acquired 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. Reverend John Sinait says that reasoning among beginners in spiritual life is associated 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 came back 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, he 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.
At some point in life, often from a certain age, when relatives and friends pass away, a person tends to ask questions about death and about possible life after death. We have already written materials on this topic, and you can read the answers to some questions.
But it seems that the number of questions is only growing and we want to explore this topic a little deeper.
Life is eternal
In this article we will not give arguments for and against the existence of life after death. We will proceed from the fact that life exists after the death of the body.
Over the past 50–70 years, medicine and psychology have accumulated tens of thousands of written evidence and research results that make it possible to lift the veil from this mystery.
It is worth noting that, on the one hand, all recorded cases of post-death experiences or travel differ from each other. But, on the other hand, they all coincide in key points.
Such as
- death is simply a transition from one form of life to another;
- when consciousness leaves the body, it simply goes to other worlds and universes;
- the soul, freed from physical experiences, experiences extraordinary lightness, bliss and heightened all senses;
- feeling of flight;
- spiritual worlds are saturated with light and love;
- in the posthumous world, time and space familiar to humans do not exist;
- consciousness works differently than when living in the body, everything is perceived and grasped almost instantly;
- the eternity of life is realized.
Life after death: recorded real cases and recorded facts
The number of recorded accounts of eyewitnesses who have experienced out-of-body experiences is so great today that they could form a large encyclopedia. And perhaps a small library.
Perhaps the largest number of described cases about life after death can be read in the books of Michael Newton, Ian Stevenson, Raymond Moody, Robert Monroe and Edgar Cayce.
Several thousand transcribed audio recordings of regressive hypnosis sessions about the life of the soul between incarnations can only be found in the books of Michael Newton.
Michael Newton began using regression hypnosis to treat his patients, especially those for whom traditional medicine and psychology could no longer help.
At first, he was surprised to discover that many serious problems in life, including patients’ health, had their causes in past lives.
After several decades of research, Newton not only developed a mechanism for treating complex physical and psychological injuries that began in past incarnations, but also collected the largest amount of evidence to date for the existence of life after death.
Michael Newton's first book, Journeys of the Soul, was released in 1994, followed by several more books dealing with life in the spirit worlds.
These books describe not only the mechanism of the soul’s transition from one life to another, but also how we choose our birth, our parents, loved ones, friends, trials and circumstances of life.
In one of the forewords to his book, Michael Newton wrote: “We are all about to return home. Where only pure, unconditional love, compassion and harmony exist side by side. You need to understand that you are currently in school, the Earth school, and when the training is over, this loving harmony is waiting for you. It is important to remember that every experience you have during your current life contributes to your personal, spiritual growth. No matter when or how your training ends, you will return home to the unconditional love that is always available and waiting for us all.”
But the main thing is that Newton not only collected the largest amount of detailed evidence, he also developed a tool that allows anyone to gain their own experience.
Today, regressive hypnosis is also represented in Russia, and if you want to resolve your doubts about the existence immortal soul, now you have the opportunity to check it yourself.
To do this, just find the contacts of a specialist in regressive hypnosis on the Internet. However, take the time to read the reviews to avoid unpleasant disappointment.
Today, books are not the only source of information about life after death. Films and TV series are being made on this topic.
One of the most famous films on this topic, based on real events, “Heaven is for Real” 2014. The film was based on the book “Heaven is Real” by Todd Burpo.
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A book about the story of a 4-year-old boy who experienced clinical death during surgery, went to heaven and returned back, written by his father.
This story is amazing in its details. While out of body, 4-year-old baby Kilton clearly saw what the doctors and his parents were doing. Which exactly corresponded to what was actually happening.
Kilton describes the heavens and their inhabitants in great detail, although his heart only stopped for a few minutes. During his stay in heaven, the boy learns such details about the life of the family that, according to his father’s assurances, he could not have known, if only because of his age.
The child, during his out-of-body journey, saw dead relatives, angels, Jesus and even the Virgin Mary, apparently due to his Catholic upbringing. The boy observed the past and the near future.
The events described in the book forced Father Kilton to completely reconsider his views on life, death and what awaits us after death.
Interesting cases and evidence of eternal life
An interesting incident happened several years ago with our compatriot Vladimir Efremov.
Vladimir Grigorievich experienced a spontaneous exit from the body due to cardiac arrest. In a word, Vladimir Grigorievich experienced clinical death in February 2014, which he told his relatives and colleagues about in every detail.
And it seemed like there was one more case confirming the presence of an otherworldly life. But the fact is that Vladimir Efremov is not just an ordinary person, not a psychic, but a scientist with an impeccable reputation in his circles.
And according to Vladimir Grigorievich himself, before he experienced clinical death, he considered himself an atheist and perceived stories about the afterlife as the dope of religion. He devoted most of his professional life to the development of rocket systems and space engines.
Therefore, for Efremov himself, the experience of contact with the afterlife was very unexpected, but it largely changed his views on the nature of reality.
It is noteworthy that in his experience there is also light, serenity, extraordinary clarity of perception, a pipe (tunnel) and no sense of time and space.
But, since Vladimir Efremov is a scientist, designer of aircraft and spacecraft, he gives a very interesting description of the world in which his consciousness found itself. He explains it in physical and mathematical concepts, which are unusually far from religious ideas.
He notes that a person in the afterlife sees what he wants to see, which is why there are so many differences in the descriptions. Despite his previous atheism, Vladimir Grigorievich noted that the presence of God was felt everywhere.
There was no visible form of God, but his presence was undeniable. Later, Efremov even gave a presentation on this topic to his colleagues. Listen to the story of the eyewitness himself.
Dalai Lama
One of the greatest proofs of eternal life is known to many, but few have thought about it. Nobel Peace Prize laureate, spiritual leader of Tibet Dalai Lama XIV, is the 14th incarnation of the consciousness (soul) of the 1st Dalai Lama.
But they began the tradition of reincarnation of the main spiritual leader, to preserve the purity of knowledge even earlier. In the Tibetan Kagyu lineage, the highest reincarnated Lama is called Karmapa. And now the Karmapa is experiencing his 17th incarnation.
The famous film “Little Buddha” was made based on the story of the death of the 16th Karmapa and the search for the child into whom he would be reborn.
In the traditions of Buddhism and Hinduism, in general, the practice of repeated incarnations is very widespread. But it is especially widely known in Tibetan Buddhism.
It is not only the supreme Lamas, such as the Dalai Lama or the Karmapa, who are reborn. After death, almost without interruption, their closest disciples also come to a new human body, whose task is to recognize the soul of the Lama in the child.
There is a whole ritual of recognition, including recognition among many personal belongings from a previous incarnation. And everyone is free to decide for themselves whether they believe or not in these stories.
But in the political life of the world, some are inclined to take this seriously.
Thus, the new reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is always recognized by the Pancha Lama, who, in turn, is also reborn after each death. It is the Pancha Lama who finally confirms that the child is the embodiment of the consciousness of the Dalai Lama.
And it so happened that the current Pancha Lama is still a child and lives in China. Moreover, he cannot leave this country, because the Chinese government needs him so that without their participation it would not be possible to determine the new incarnation of the Dalai Lama.
Therefore, in the past few years, the spiritual leader of Tibet sometimes jokes and says that he may no longer incarnate or incarnate in a female body. You can, of course, argue that these are Buddhists and they have such beliefs and this is not evidence. But it seems that some heads of state perceive this differently.
Bali - “Island of the Gods”
Another interesting fact takes place in Indonesia, on the Hindu island of Bali. In Hinduism, the theory of reincarnation is key and the islanders deeply believe in it. They believe so strongly that during the cremation of the body, the relatives of the deceased ask the gods to allow the soul, if it wants to be born again on earth, to be born again in Bali.
Which is quite understandable, the island lives up to its name “Island of the Gods”. Moreover, if the family of the deceased is wealthy, she is asked to return to the family.
When a child reaches 3 years of age, there is a tradition of taking him to a special clergyman who has the ability to determine which soul has come into this body. And sometimes it turns out to be the soul of a great-grandmother or uncle. And the existence of the entire island, practically a small state, is determined by these beliefs.
Modern science's view of life after death
Science's views on death and life have changed greatly over the past 50–70 years, largely due to the development of quantum physics and biology. In recent decades, scientists have come closer than ever before to understanding what happens to consciousness after life leaves the body.
If 100 years ago science denied the existence of consciousness or soul, today this is already a generally accepted fact, as is the fact that the consciousness of the experimenter influences the results of the experiment.
So does the soul exist, and is Consciousness immortal from a scientific point of view? - Yes
Neuroscientist Christoph Koch in April 2016, at a meeting of scientists with the 14th Dalai Lama, said that the latest theories in brain science consider consciousness as a property that is inherent in everything that exists.
Consciousness is inherent in everything and is present everywhere, just as gravity acts on all objects without exception.
The theory of “Panpsychism”, the theory of a single universal consciousness, has received a second life these days. This theory is present in Buddhism, Greek philosophy and pagan traditions. But for the first time, Panpsychism is supported by science.
Giulio Tononi, author of the famous modern theory consciousness “Integrated Information Theory” states the following: “consciousness exists in physical systems in the form of diverse and multilaterally interconnected pieces of information.”
Christopher Koch and Giulio Tononi did something amazing for modern science statement:
"Consciousness is the fundamental quality inherent in reality."
Based on this hypothesis, Koch and Tononi came up with a unit of measurement for consciousness and called it phi. Scientists have already developed a test that measures phi in the human brain.
A magnetic pulse is sent to the human brain and how the signal is measured in the brain's neurons is measured.
The longer and clearer the brain reverberation in response to a magnetic stimulus, the more conscious a person is.
Using this technique, it is possible to determine what state a person is in: awake, asleep or under anesthesia.
This method of measuring consciousness has found widespread use in medicine. The phi level helps to accurately determine whether actual death has occurred or the patient is in a vegetative state.
The test helps to find out at what time consciousness begins to develop in the fetus and how clearly a person is aware of himself in a state of dementia or dementia.
Several proofs of the existence of the soul and its immortality
Here we are again faced with what can be considered proof of the existence of the soul. In court cases, witness testimony is evidence in favor of the innocence and guilt of suspects.
And for most of us, the stories of people, especially loved ones, who have experienced a post-mortem experience or the separation of the soul from the body will be evidence of the presence of a soul. However, it is not a fact that scientists will accept this evidence as such.
Where is the point after which stories and myths become proven with scientific point vision?
Moreover, today we already know that many of the inventions of the human mind that we use now were present exclusively in science fiction works 200–300 years ago.
The simplest example of this is an airplane.
Evidence from psychiatrist Jim Tucker
So let's look at several cases described by psychiatrist Jim B. Tucker as evidence for the existence of the soul. Moreover, what could be a greater proof of the immortality of the soul if not reincarnation or the memory of one’s past incarnations?
Like Ian Stevenson, Jim spent decades researching the issue of reincarnation based on children's memories of past lives.
In his book Life Before Life: A Scientific Study of Children's Memories of Past Lives, he reviewed more than 40 years of reincarnation research at the University of Virginia.
The studies were based on children's exact memories of their past incarnations.
The book, among other things, discusses birthmarks and birth defects that are present in children and correlate with the cause of death in a previous incarnation.
Jim began studying this issue after he encountered quite frequent requests from parents who claimed that their children told very consistent stories about their past lives.
Names, occupations, places of residence and circumstances of death are given. What a surprise it was when some of the stories were confirmed: houses were found in which the children lived in their previous incarnations and graves where they were buried.
There were too many such cases to consider it a coincidence or a hoax. Moreover, in some cases, young children as young as 2-4 years old already possessed skills that they claimed to have mastered in past lives. Here are a few such examples.
Baby Hunter incarnate
Hunter, a 2-year-old boy, told his parents that he was a multiple golf champion. He lived in the United States of America in the mid-30s and his name was Bobby Jones. At the same time, at only two years old, Hunter played golf well.
So good that he was allowed to study in the section, despite the existing age restrictions of 5 years. It is not surprising that the parents decided to have their son checked. They printed out photographs of several competitive golfers and asked the boy to identify himself.
Without hesitation, Hunter pointed to the photograph of Bobby Jones. By the age of seven, memories of his past life began to blur, but the boy still plays golf and has already won several competitions.
Incarnation of James
Another example about the boy James. He was about 2.5 years old when he started talking about his past life and how he died. First, the child began to have nightmares about the plane crash.
But one day James told his mother that he was a military pilot and died in a plane crash during the war with Japan. His plane was shot down near the island of Iota. The boy described in detail how the bomb hit the engine and the plane began to fall into the ocean.
He remembered that in a previous life his name was James Houston, he grew up in Pennsylvania, and his father suffered from alcoholism.
The boy's father turned to the military archives, where it turned out that a pilot named James Houston really existed. He took part in air operations off the islands of Japan during the Second World War. Houston died off the island of Iota, exactly as the child described.
Reincarnation researcher Ian Stevens
The books of another no less famous reincarnation researcher, Ian Stevens, contain about 3 thousand verified and confirmed childhood memories of past incarnations. Unfortunately, his books have not yet been translated into Russian, and are currently only available in English.
His first book was published in 1997 and was entitled "Reincarnation and Stevenson's Biology: Contributions to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects."
In researching this book, two hundred cases of birth defects or birthmarks in children that could not be explained medically or genetically were examined. At the same time, the children themselves explained their origins by events from past lives.
For example, there have been cases of children with irregular or missing fingers. Children with such defects often remembered the circumstances under which these injuries were received, where and at what age. Many of the stories were confirmed by death certificates found later and even stories from living relatives.
There was a boy with moles that were shaped very much like the entry and exit wounds of a bullet wound. The boy himself claimed that he died from a shot in the head. He remembered his name and the house in which he lived.
The deceased's sister was later found and confirmed her brother's name and the fact that he shot himself in the head.
All the thousands and thousands of similar cases recorded today are proof not only of the existence of the soul, but also of its immortality. Moreover, thanks to many years of research by Ian Stevenson, Jim B. Tucker, Michael Newton and others, we know that sometimes no more than 6 years can pass between soul incarnations.
In general, according to the research of Michael Newton, the soul itself chooses how soon and why it wants to incarnate again.
Further proof of the existence of the soul came from the discovery of the atom.
The discovery of the atom and its structure led to the fact that scientists, especially quantum physicists, were forced to admit that at the quantum level everything existing in the universe, absolutely everything, is one.
An atom is 90 percent composed of space (emptiness), which means that all living and nonliving bodies, including the human body, consist of the same space.
It is noteworthy that more and more quantum physicists are now practicing Eastern meditation practices, because, in their opinion, they allow them to experience this fact of unity.
John Hagelin, a famous quantum physicist and popularizer of science, said in one of his interviews that for all quantum physicists, our unity at the subatomic level is a proven fact.
But if you want not just to know this, but to experience it yourself, take up meditation, because it will help you find access to this space of peace and love, which is already present inside everyone, but is simply not realized.
You can call it God, soul or higher mind, the fact of its existence will not change in any way.
Isn’t it possible that mediums, psychics and many creative personalities can connect to this space?
Religious opinions on death
The opinion of all religions about death agrees on one thing - when you die in this world, you are born in another. And here are the descriptions other worlds in the Bible, Koran, Kabbalah, Vedas and other religious books differs in accordance with the cultural characteristics of the countries where this or that religion was born.
But taking into account the hypothesis that after death the soul sees those worlds that it is inclined and wants to see, we can conclude that all differences in religious views on life after death are explained precisely by differences in faith and beliefs.
Spiritualism: communication with the departed
It seems that humans have always had a desire to communicate with the dead. Because throughout the existence of human culture, there have been people who have been able to communicate with the spirits of deceased ancestors.
In the Middle Ages, this was done by shamans, priests and sorcerers; in our time, people with such abilities are called mediums or psychics.
If you watch television at least occasionally, you may have come across a television show that shows sessions of communication with the spirits of the deceased.
One of the most famous shows in which communication with the departed is a key theme is “Battle of Psychics” on TNT.
It is difficult to say how real what the viewer sees on the screen is. But one thing is for sure - it is now not difficult to find someone who can help you contact your deceased loved one.
But when choosing a medium, you should take care to obtain proven recommendations. At the same time, you can try to set up this connection yourself.
Yes, not everyone has psychic abilities, but many can develop them. There are often cases when communication with the dead occurs spontaneously.
This usually happens up to 40 days after death, until the time has come for the soul to fly away from the earthly plane. During this period, communication can occur on its own, especially if the deceased has something to tell you and you are emotionally open to such communication.
Sensational revelations of physicist Vladimir Efremov, who miraculously returned from the other world.
The leading designer of the Impulse Design Bureau, Vladimir Efremov, died suddenly. He started coughing, sank onto the sofa and fell silent. At first the relatives did not understand that something terrible had happened.
They thought that he had sat down to rest. Natalya was the first to come out of her stupor. She touched her brother on the shoulder:
Volodya, what's wrong with you?
Efremov fell helplessly on his side. Natalya tried to feel her pulse. The heart didn't beat! She began to perform artificial respiration, but her brother was not breathing.
Natalya, a doctor herself, knew that the chances of salvation were decreasing every minute. I tried to “start” my heart by massaging my chest. The eighth minute was ending when her palms felt a weak response push. The heart turned on. Vladimir Grigorievich began to breathe on his own.
Alive! – his sister hugged him. - We thought you were dead. That's it, it's over!
There is no end,” whispered Vladimir Grigorievich. - There is life there too. But different. Better…
Vladimir Grigorievich recorded his experience during clinical death in every detail. His testimony is priceless. This is the first scientific study of the afterlife by a scientist who has experienced death himself. Vladimir Grigorievich published his observations in the journal “Scientific and Technical Gazette of the St. Petersburg State Technical University”, and then spoke about them at a scientific congress.
His report on the afterlife became a sensation.
It is impossible to imagine such a thing! – said Professor Anatoly Smirnov, head of the International Club of Scientists.
Transition
Vladimir Efremov’s reputation in scientific circles is impeccable.
He is a major specialist in the field of artificial intelligence; he worked at the Impulse Design Bureau for a long time. Participated in the launch of Gagarin, contributed to the development of the latest missile systems. His research team received the State Prize four times.
Before his clinical death, he considered himself an absolute atheist,” says Vladimir Grigorievich. – I trusted only the facts. He considered all discussions about the afterlife to be religious nonsense. To be honest, I didn’t think about death then. There was so much to do in the service that it would be impossible to sort it out in ten lifetimes. There was no time for further treatment - my heart was playing up, chronic bronchitis was tormenting me, and other ailments were bothering me.
On March 12, at the house of my sister, Natalya Grigorievna, I had a coughing attack. I felt like I was suffocating. My lungs didn’t listen to me, I tried to take a breath - but couldn’t! The body became weak, the heart stopped. The last air left the lungs with wheezing and foam. The thought flashed through my mind that this was the last second of my life.
But for some reason my consciousness did not turn off. Suddenly there was a feeling of extraordinary lightness. Nothing hurt me anymore - neither my throat, nor my heart, nor my stomach. I only felt this comfortable as a child. I did not feel my body and did not see it. But all my feelings and memories were with me. I was flying somewhere along a giant pipe. The sensations of flying turned out to be familiar - something similar had happened before in a dream. Mentally I tried to slow down the flight and change its direction. Happened! There was no horror or fear. Only bliss. I tried to analyze what was happening. The conclusions came instantly. The world you've entered exists. I think, therefore I also exist. And my thinking has the property of causality, since it can change the direction and speed of my flight.
Pipe
Everything was fresh, bright and interesting,” Vladimir Grigorievich continues his story. “My mind worked completely differently than before. It embraced everything at once at the same time; for it there was no time or distance. I admired the world around me. It was as if he had been rolled into a tube. I didn’t see the sun, there was even light everywhere, casting no shadows. Some heterogeneous structures reminiscent of relief are visible on the walls of the pipe. It was impossible to determine where was up and where was down.
I tried to remember the area I was flying over. It looked like some kind of mountains.
I remembered the landscape without any difficulty; the volume of my memory was truly bottomless. I tried to return to the place I had already flown over, imagining it in my mind. Everything worked out! It was like teleportation.
TV
A crazy thought came,” Efremov continues his story. – To what extent can you influence the world around you? And is it possible to return to your past life? I mentally imagined an old broken TV from my apartment. And I saw it from all sides at once. Somehow I knew everything about him. How and where it was constructed. He knew where the ore was mined, from which the metals used in the construction were smelted. Knew which steelmaker did it. I knew that he was married, that he had problems with his mother-in-law. I saw everything connected with this TV globally, being aware of every little detail. And he knew exactly which part was faulty. Then, when I was revived, I changed that T-350 transistor and the TV started working...
There was a feeling of the omnipotence of thought. Our design bureau struggled for two years to solve the most difficult problem related to cruise missiles. And suddenly, imagining this design, I saw the problem in all its versatility. And the solution algorithm arose by itself.
Then I wrote it down and implemented it.
God
The realization that he was not alone in the next world came to Efremov gradually.
My information interaction with the environment gradually lost its one-sided character,” says Vladimir Grigorievich. – The answer to the formulated question appeared in my mind. At first, such answers were perceived as a natural result of reflection. But the information coming to me began to go beyond the knowledge that I had during my lifetime. The knowledge gained in this tube was many times greater than my previous knowledge!
I realized that I was being guided by Someone who was omnipresent and had no boundaries. And He has unlimited capabilities, is omnipotent and full of love. This invisible, but tangible subject with my whole being did everything so as not to frighten me. I realized that it was He who showed me phenomena and problems in all cause and effect relationships. I didn’t see Him, but I felt Him acutely. And I knew that it was God...
Suddenly I noticed that something was bothering me. I was dragged outside like a carrot from a garden. I didn’t want to go back, everything was fine. Everything flashed and I saw my sister. She was scared, and I was beaming with delight...
Comparison
Efremov in his scientific works described the afterlife using mathematical and physical terms. In this article we decided to try to do without complex concepts and formulas.
Vladimir Grigorievich, what can you compare the world to which you found yourself after death?
Any comparison will be incorrect. The processes there do not proceed linearly, like ours, they are not extended over time. They go at the same time and in all directions. Objects “in the next world” are presented in the form of information blocks, the content of which determines their location and properties. Everything and everyone is in a cause-and-effect relationship with each other. Objects and properties are enclosed in a single global information structure, in which everything goes according to the laws set by the leading subject - that is, God. He is subject to the appearance, change or removal of any objects, properties, processes, including the passage of time.
How free is a person, his consciousness, his soul in his actions?
A person, as a source of information, can also influence objects in the sphere accessible to him. By my will, the relief of the “pipe” changed, and earthly objects appeared.
Looks like the films “Solaris” and “The Matrix”...
And to a giant computer game. But both worlds, ours and the afterlife, are real. They constantly interact with each other, although they are isolated from one another, and together with the governing subject - God - they form a global intellectual system.
Our world is simpler to comprehend; it has a rigid framework of constants that ensure the inviolability of the laws of nature; the connecting principle of events is time.
In the afterlife there are either no constants at all, or there are significantly fewer of them than in ours, and they can change. The basis for the construction of that world is made up of information formations containing the entire set of known and still unknown properties of material objects in the complete absence of the objects themselves. Just as it happens on Earth under computer simulation conditions. I understood that a person sees there what he wants to see. Therefore the descriptions the afterlife people who have experienced death differ from each other. The righteous sees heaven, the sinner sees hell...
For me, death was an indescribable joy, incomparable to anything on Earth. Even love for a woman is nothing compared to what you experienced there...
Bible
Vladimir Grigorievich read the Holy Scriptures after his resurrection. And I found confirmation of my posthumous experience and my thoughts about the informational essence of the world.
The Gospel of John says that “in the beginning was the Word,” Ephraim quotes the Bible. – And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was with God in the beginning. All things came into being through Him, and without Him nothing came into being that was made.” Is this not a hint that in Scripture the “word” refers to a certain global information essence that includes the comprehensive content of everything?
Efremov put his posthumous experience into practice. He brought the key to many complex problems that have to be solved in earthly life from there.
The thinking of all people has the property of causality, says Vladimir Grigorievich. - But few people realize this. In order not to cause harm to yourself and others, you need to follow religious standards of life. Holy books are dictated by the Creator, this is a technology for the safety of humanity...
Vladimir Efremov: “Death is not scary for me now. I know that this is a door to another world."