Dualism: Near Death experience

Near Death experience , evidence of dualism

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1284-dualism-near-death-experience

Best NDE experience report I have seen so far. Really touching. The best part is that those that are once inscribed in the book of life, will never be canceled. So you cannot lose your salvation if you truly believe in Christ with your heart.

Former Atheist Convinced Of Afterlife Due To Near-Death Experience | Benno Panissidi, Switzerland In english
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfG_3VUHsW8

Non translated version in german:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnAw7VHboJU

If thought and  Logic come from proteins, chemicals, and neurons, then laws of logic would be different for everybody since no one has the same chemical and neurological patterns.

Given the enormous amount of information we have from NDE studies, there are some very evident implications. Of particular note is the common NDE experience of meeting and interacting with those who have died. In some cases, the NDEr met someone they did not recognize, but who identified themselves as a past relative. Later the NDEr verified that the person they met was indeed whom the person identified themselves as after tracking it down through various family members. In other cases, the NDErs met someone they believed at the time was alive, only to find out that person had passed shortly before they experienced their NDE. These NDE meetings have the quality of the deceased looking like, dressed like, acting like, and talking like the people they were here, even if the NDEr never actually met them or had no knowledge of them whatsoever. This clearly implies that what we call the “quantum information” of a person continues after death as distinct individuals with most of their significant characteristics intact.

Further Evidence For Veridical Perception During Near-Death Experiences
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc799169/?fbclid=IwAR0KFGLLf4mebbYw55h2Hc_VAbnTbeUq4DFShQ4ujVtrWlB_r0L5pYdnEUc

Near-Death Experiences, Deathbed Visions, and Past-Life Memories: A Convergence in Support of van Lommel's 'Consciousness Beyond Life'
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc461696/

Life After Death Experience (NDE) with Steve Gardipee, Vietnam War Story | One of the Best NDEs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peMIHK87e6w&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1FW4Y28kozgApzA2swMuGXsvp9HlhY2Cm1J3b9JIZEJERd-1s3YjaNvEg

Near Death Experiences, also referred to as "NDE's", provide corroborating evidence that we are indeed spiritual beings at the core, and that our bodies are merely a temporary "shell", if you will...
There are literally millions of reported NDE cases where patients, who have been resuscitated from complete heart failure or even clinical brain death, vividly recount details of an out of body experience...
...during which they were obviously able to think, as well as feel emotion. In fact, a consistent theme among NDE survivors is a feeling of being "more alive than ever".
Skeptics have a number of "rescuing devices" that they use to dismiss the growing mountain of evidence that human consciousness survives death...
But there is simply no "naturalistic" explanation whatsoever for how some NDE survivors are able to accurately describe "unknowable details" of events that transpired around their physical bodies, or even miles away from their physical bodies, while they were "out"...
A number of these "remote viewing" experiences have been documented by prominent physicians and reported in peer-reviewed medical journals.
Obviously, doctors and nurses cannot see a spirit leaving the body of a patient laying in a hospital bed or on the operating table...
...which immediately implies that the human spirit must reside in an "invisible realm" - i.e., another dimension.
http://www.silverweapon.com/

Consciousness and out of body experiences point to dualism, the separation of the body and  mind

A Historian Explains the Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus (Dr. Gary Habermas)

Let's talk about near-death experiences and because the evidence has been coming in so well in a recent book up to 30 million people in North America England and Europe have claimed to have near-death experiences so I could say a sum let's just say the numbers blown up too much there's only 20 million in a way 20 million people who've been to Narnia if you want to look at that way so don't tell me there's no empirical evidence for this they'll say yeah those are just experiences you don't have data oh you don't say that to me I you know I just gave him a paper yesterday I I know 300 evidence in de accounts or what's reported is empirically verified so if you can't refute it and it's almost impossible to refute them than Indies if you can't refute them and you have this alternate reality in what category and the category of afterlife also there may be an afterlife well I didn't think so until today but yeah I guess maybe there is okay now can we talk about resurrection because I'm opened the door to talk about this alternate reality which may last forever,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWSG5okmUr8&fbclid=IwAR3VWZmyZWCOcFuSfo0IrEl0U7SFjXf_rO0lmFnEAga6wzZqpnSzO0IcX_I


In a study of NDE  after cardiac arrest and successful resuscitation, almost 20% included out of body experiences.  OBE’s were at first considered a psychosis, or depersonalization, but this is not consistent with current research.

Jon Lieff MD psychiatrist, with specialities in geriatric psychiatry and neuropsychiatry, writes :

The fact that OBE’s can be stimulated in the laboratory clearly demonstrates that the sense of “I”, the self-identity, can be separated from the body consciousness.  Studies of body maps are also consistent with this view because they show that body consciousness is constantly changing through neuroplasticity. Therefore, ultimately, the sense of self is independent of the body sense, although normally extremely associated with it. The sense of “I,” or identity, is also ordinarily very attached to the self perceptions involving our professions, families, and other strongly held beliefs and feelings.


Dr.Pirn van Lommel , cardiologist, best known for his work on the subject of near-death experiences, including a prospective study published in the medical journal The Lancet, writes : 

Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands
division of Cardiology, Hospital Rijnstate, Arnhem, Netherlands (P van Lommel MD); Tilburg, Netherlands (R van Wees PhD); Nijmegen, Netherlands (V Meyers PhD); and Capelle a/d Ijssel, Netherlands (I Elfferich PhD)

"During a night shift an ambulance brings in a 44-year-old cyanotic, comatose man into the coronary care unit. He had been found about an hour before in a meadow by passers-by. After admission, he receives artificial respiration without intubation, while heart massage and defibrillation are also applied. When we want to intubate the patient, he turns out to have dentures in his mouth. I remove these upper dentures and put them onto the 'crash car'. Meanwhile, we continue extensive CPR. After about an hour and a half the patient has sufficient heart rhythm and blood pressure, but he is still ventilated and intubated, and he is still comatose.

 He is transferred to the intensive care unit to continue the necessary artificial respiration. Only after more than a week do I meet again with the patient, who is by now back on the cardiac ward. I distribute his medication. The moment he sees me he says: 'Oh, that nurse knows where my dentures are'. I am very surprised. Then he elucidates: 'Yes, you were there when I was brought into hospital and you took my dentures out of my mouth and put them onto that car, it had all these bottles on it and there was this sliding drawer underneath and there you put my teeth.' I was especially amazed because I remembered this happening while the man was in deep coma and in the process of CPR. When I asked further, it appeared the man had seen himself lying in bed, that he had perceived from above how nurses and doctors had been busy with CPR. 

He was also able to describe correctly and in detail the small room in which he had been resuscitated as well as the appearance of those present like myself. At the time that he observed the situation he had been very much afraid that we would stop CPR and that he would die. And it is true that we had been very negative about the patient's prognosis due to his very poor medical condition when admitted. The patient tells me that he desperately and unsuccessfully tried to make it clear to us that he was still alive and that we should continue CPR. He is deeply impressed by his experience and says he is no longer afraid of death. 4 weeks later he left hospital as a healthy man."

A young American woman had complications during brain surgery for a cerebral aneurysm. The EEG of her cortex and brainstem had become totally flat. After the operation, which was eventually successful, this patient proved to have had a very deep NDE, including an out-of-body experience, with subsequently verified observations during the period of the flat EEG.

Quantum physics proves that there IS an afterlife, claims scientist

Robert Lanza claims the theory of biocentrism says death is an illusion

He said life creates the universe, and not the other way round
This means space and time don't exist in the linear fashion we think it does
He uses the famous double-split experiment to illustrate his point
And if space and time aren't linear, then death can't exist in 'any real sense' either

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2503370/Quantum-physics-proves-IS-afterlife-claims-scientist.html



Pim van Lommel (born 15 March 1943) is a Dutch author and researcher in the field of near-death studies. He studied medicine at Utrecht University, specializing in cardiology. He worked as a cardiologist at the Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem, for 26 years (1977-2003).

Lommel is best known for his work on the subject of near-death experiences, including a prospective study published in the medical journal The Lancet.^[1] He gained public attention as the author of the 2007 Dutchbestseller titled: Eindeloos Bewustzijn: een wetenschappelijke visie op de Bijna-Dood Ervaring^[2] which has been translated into several languages including German, English, French, Polish and Spanish. The English translation is titled: Consciousness Beyond Life, The Science of the Near-Death Experience (HarperCollins, 2010).

In his book Consciousness Beyond Life, Lommel postulates a model where consciousness is beyond neurological activities of the brain. He suggests that the brain is merely a terminal for accessing consciousness which isnonlocal (i.e. situated outside the physical body). In this model the brain is analogous to a computer terminal accessing a mainframe or the internet. He further hypothesizes that noncoding DNA and quantum mechanicscould make such nonlocal access possible and this model could supposedly explain how near-death experiences could be experienced and remembered by people whose brain showed no activity on an EEG.^[4]

Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands

http://profezie3m.altervista.org/archivio/TheLancet_NDE.htm

division of Cardiology, Hospital Rijnstate, Arnhem, Netherlands (P van Lommel MD); Tilburg, Netherlands (R van Wees PhD); Nijmegen, Netherlands (V Meyers PhD); and Capelle a/d Ijssel, Netherlands (I Elfferich PhD)

"During a night shift an ambulance brings in a 44-year-old cyanotic, comatose man into the coronary care unit. He had been found about an hour before in a meadow by passers-by. After admission, he receives artificial respiration without intubation, while heart massage and defibrillation are also applied. When we want to intubate the patient, he turns out to have dentures in his mouth. I remove these upper dentures and put them onto the 'crash car'. Meanwhile, we continue extensive CPR. After about an hour and a half the patient has sufficient heart rhythm and blood pressure, but he is still ventilated and intubated, and he is still comatose. He is transferred to the intensive care unit to continue the necessary artificial respiration. Only after more than a week do I meet again with the patient, who is by now back on the cardiac ward. I distribute his medication. The moment he sees me he says: 'Oh, that nurse knows where my dentures are'. I am very surprised. Then he elucidates: 'Yes, you were there when I was brought into hospital and you took my dentures out of my mouth and put them onto that car, it had all these bottles on it and there was this sliding drawer underneath and there you put my teeth.' I was especially amazed because I remembered this happening while the man was in deep coma and in the process of CPR. When I asked further, it appeared the man had seen himself lying in bed, that he had perceived from above how nurses and doctors had been busy with CPR. He was also able to describe correctly and in detail the small room in which he had been resuscitated as well as the appearance of those present like myself. At the time that he observed the situation he had been very much afraid that we would stop CPR and that he would die. And it is true that we had been very negative about the patient's prognosis due to his very poor medical condition when admitted. The patient tells me that he desperately and unsuccessfully tried to make it clear to us that he was still alive and that we should continue CPR. He is deeply impressed by his experience and says he is no longer afraid of death. 4 weeks later he left hospital as a healthy man."


Dualism – The concept

http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/dualism.htm

Dualism is the concept that our mind is more than just our brain. This concept entails that our mind has a non-material, spiritual dimension that includes consciousness and possibly an eternal attribute. One way to understand this concept is to consider our self as a container including our physical body and physical brain along with a separate non-physical mind, spirit, or soul. The mind, spirit, or soul is considered the conscious part that manifests itself through the brain in a similar way that picture waves and sound waves manifest themselves through a television set. The picture and sound waves are also non-material just like the mind, spirit, or soul.

Near Death Experience Homepage:
https://www.nderf.org/?fbclid=IwAR0EMSNas7ge-gE3ocfZ-ttUgb1F_hnGonWZIQ-4DIKyCc1uCjHjIJPWshM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glKccJ5YUcg



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVsBFOB7H44
Jul 23, 2023
Cardiologist Dr. Pim van Lommel became internationally known after his ground-breaking study on NDEs (Near Death Experiences) was published in the respected medical journal The Lancet, in 2001. The study was remarkable in that it was a prospective one: conditions were set and ready before patients underwent cardiac arrest. The results showed that merely physiological explanations for the NDEs were inadequate, thereby raising profound questions about the nature of consciousness and its relation to brain function. In this in-depth interview, Essentia Foundation's Natalia Vorontsova discusses the philosophical implications of these findings with Dr. van Lommel, at his house in the Netherlands.



A fascinating and forensic account of an NDE (a snapshot from the state of near death) by a (atheist) soldier at the end of WW2:
"... I felt secured and supported by an almighty, life-giving force, that also sustains and supports me in this out of body existence; and protects me from destruction. This happiest state of my life lasted only a short time ..."
How do we explain the profundity of these experiences and their transformative nature?

Near-Death Experience | German Atheist and WW2-Soldier Convinced of Afterlife by NDE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieBwjiq9o0s

Question:  Is the brain clinically dead during near death experience?  NDEs ?
Answer: Near-death experiences (NDEs) are  experiences reported by people who have have experienced clinical death but have been resuscitated.  There have been reports of people experiencing NDEs during periods when their brains were clinically dead. There are several reported examples of people who have experienced NDEs during periods when their brains were clinically dead. One example is the case of Pam Reynolds, who underwent surgery to remove a large aneurysm near her brain stem. During the surgery, her body temperature was lowered to 60 degrees Fahrenheit (16 degrees Celsius), her heart was stopped, and her brain waves ceased. In this state, she reported having an NDE, which included a sense of leaving her body, traveling through a tunnel, and encountering deceased relatives. Another example is the case of a man who was resuscitated after being clinically dead for several minutes following a cardiac arrest. He reported having an NDE during which he felt a sense of peace, encountered deceased relatives, and experienced a life review.

Another example is the case of Howard Storm, a former atheist and art professor who reported having an NDE during a medical emergency in which he met Jesus. According to his account, Jesus appeared to him as a bright light and guided him through a dark and terrifying realm before leading him to safety.

Howard Storm's NDE occurred in 1985 when he was on a trip to Paris. He suffered a perforation of the stomach and was rushed to a hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. During the surgery, he suffered a near-fatal complications, and his condition deteriorated rapidly.

As he lay in his hospital bed, Storm reported feeling a sense of intense fear and despair. He then saw a group of beings who he described as "dark shadows" that began to surround him and torment him. Storm reported that these beings were threatening him and he felt completely helpless and alone.

As he became more and more frightened, Storm suddenly heard a voice calling out to him. At first, he couldn't make out what the voice was saying, but eventually, he heard the voice more clearly, and it was calling him to follow it. The voice belonged to Jesus, who appeared to him as a brilliant light.

At first, Storm was hesitant to follow Jesus, but as he realized that the dark shadows were still tormenting him, he decided to follow Jesus. Jesus led him through a dark and terrifying realm, and Storm reported feeling a sense of complete peace and comfort in Jesus' presence. During his NDE, Storm said that Jesus communicated to him in a non-verbal way, and that he received a message of love, compassion, and forgiveness. Storm also reported meeting other beings, including angels and deceased relatives. After his NDE, Storm's life was transformed. He abandoned his atheism and became a Christian minister. He has since written a book about his experience called "My Descent Into Death: A Second Chance at Life."
https://www.amazon.com/My-Descent-Into-Death-Second/dp/0385513763


Near-Death Experiences: A Glimpse into Spiritual Transformation and the Eternal Perspective

Near-death experiences (NDEs) are a phenomenon widely reported as occurring during life-threatening crises, which refer to a range of subjective experiences related to impending death¹. These experiences often lead to deep permanent changes in both the individual and the social lives of the experiencers¹.

One of the most common elements of NDEs is the "life review" experience². This is often described by those who have experienced it as "having their life flash before their eyes"². During a life review, the meaning of their life is presented to them, but also how their life affected other people, as well as an awareness of the thoughts and feelings of these people². The memories are described as being many and might also include a panoramic quality². The experience of a life review is often described from a third-person perspective².

there are reports of people who, during their near-death experiences (NDEs), became self-aware of their wrongdoings or "sins" during their life. This is often part of the "life review" aspect of NDEs². During a life review, individuals not only see events from their life, but they also experience the feelings and emotions associated with those events, often from the perspective of the other people involved². This can lead to a heightened sense of empathy and understanding, and in some cases, a realization of the harm they may have caused others². This self-awareness of one's actions and their impact on others can lead to significant personal transformation following the NDE³. However, it's important to note that the interpretation of these experiences can vary greatly depending on the individual's personal, cultural, and religious background¹.

In a systematic analysis of case reports and qualitative research, near-death experiences have been categorized into 4 main categories and 19 subcategories¹. The main categories include emotional experiences, cognitive experiences, spiritual and religious experiences, and supernatural experiences¹. The most frequent near-death experiences were supernatural experiences, especially the experience of leaving the body¹. The basis and the content of the patterns mentioned by the experiencers are similar, and the differences are in the explanation and the interpretation of the experience¹.

All of the respondents reported that their near-death experiences had a profound impact on them, and that it caused them to have a different outlook on life and death, most particularly in how they viewed or felt about the people in their lives⁴. While some people with NDEs report these life reviews, they're more common with fear-death experiences⁶. People even recall events from toddlerhood that they can't consciously remember but that we can later confirm by talking with family members and others⁶.

Commentary: In many instances, the Bible narrates significant events succinctly or through allegorical language, while nonetheless depicting historical happenings as seen in the book of Genesis. A critical aspect it discusses is the afterlife, vividly illustrating a stark division between the saved and the lost. The Bible elucidates that those who lived in opposition to God’s will face eternal separation, destined to an everlasting existence in hell. In contrast, the saved will be embraced eternally into the family of God, or the Body of Christ.

People recounting Near Death Experiences often describe a sudden, expansive reliving of their life's events, possibly hinting at a timeless dimension or awareness fundamentally divergent from our earthly understanding. This notion aligns with the Biblical account of God revealing Himself to Moses. Identifying Himself as “I AM,” God emphasizes His eternal, all-encompassing existence, underscoring His omniscient nature aware of past, present, and future simultaneously.

This divine omniscience implies that nothing is concealed from God. The lost, in their eternal state, will maintain consciousness, understanding the reasons behind their separation from divine grace. Conversely, the saved, shielded by the sacrificial atonement of Christ's blood, symbolized by white clothing, will enjoy eternal fellowship with God. Their sins are washed away, thanks to Jesus’ immense sacrifice, providing purification to those who accept Him as their Lord and Savior.

In this celestial realm, awareness of earthly deeds remains intact. The Bible, in 1 Corinthians, mentions the varied brightness of individuals in the afterlife, suggesting ranks and rewards based on earthly actions. 

1 Corinthians 15:41-42 (ESV): "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So is it with the resurrection of the dead..."

This teaching underscores the paramount importance of every moment spent on earth. It is a call to navigate life with eternal perspectives in mind, committing to righteousness, love for God, and compassion for humanity. The significance of each second and minute unravels as we focus on eternity, urging us to embody love and seek God's will in every aspect of our lives.

(1) Semiology and Mechanisms of Near-Death Experiences. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11910-019-0983-2.
(2) Spiritual Transformation After Near-Death Experiences. https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/wp-content/uploads/sites/360/2017/01/NDE72Spiritual-Transformation-After-Near-Death-Experiences-Greyson-KhannaSTS-SCP.pdf.
(3) Frontiers | Explanation of near-death experiences: a systematic .... https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1048929/full.
(4) What really happens during a near-death experience. https://www.popsci.com/health/near-death-experience/.
(5) The Psychology of Near-Death Experiences and Spirituality. https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/38548/chapter/333836944.
(6) undefined. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1048929.


https://www.facebook.com/philip.cunningham.73/videos/1113745045305094/?pnref=story
http://winteryknight.wordpress.com/2014/01/30/six-reasons-why-you-should-believe-in-non-physical-minds/?utm_content=buffer57ebc&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/the-core-of-mind-and-cosmos/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1

http://www.creationhistory.com/CreationMessages/The_Brain_and_the_Bible.shtml

The mystery of how information is "coded." Scientists can SEE the human brain, can MEASURE electrical pulses traveling within the brain, etc., but how can this explain our thoughts? The article goes on to draw this comparison:

   "The challenge is something like popping the cover off a computer, measuring a few transistors chattering between high and low voltage, and trying to guess the content of the Web page being surfed."

http://www.ukapologetics.net/07/mindandbody.htm

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/02/05/neuroscientist-describes-documented-cases-of-humans-flying-outside-of-their-body/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_qBIw7qyHU



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPCvuva2deU




Scientific knowledge is expanding every day at an exponential rate, and the implications of new developments, particularly those that challenge the current framework regarding the true nature of reality, are far-reaching indeed. One area that continues to become a focal point of study for many physicians and neuroscientists is the relationship between mind, brain, and consciousness.

Is the brain a receiver of consciousness, or is consciousness a product of the brain? Although science has not yet shown with absolute certainty that consciousness exists separately from our physical organs, there is a lot of evidence (both anecdotal and scientific) which indicates that consciousness is something completely separate – that it continues on even after we have deceased, that it is and can be a separate “thing” from the brain. There seems to be a lot of consistency when it comes to studies that have examined this issue. New findings within this field are rapidly changing how we perceive and relate to the physical world.

Below is a video of Dr. Bruce Greyson speaking at a conference that was held by the United Nations. He is considered to be one of the “fathers” of near death studies. He is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Science at the University of Virginia.

In the video he describes documented cases of individuals who were clinically dead (showing no brain activity), but observing everything that was happening to them on the medical table below at the same time. He describes how there have been many instances of this – where individuals are able to describe things that should have been impossible to describe. Another significant statement by Dr Greyson posits that this type of study has been discouraged due to our tendency to view science as completely materialistic. Seeing is believing, so to speak, in the scientific community. It’s unfortunate that just because we cannot explain something through materialistic means, it must be instantly discredited. The simple fact that “consciousness” itself is a non-physical “thing” is troubling for some scientists to comprehend, and as a result of it being non material, they believe it cannot be studied by science.




More Research
“Some materialistically inclined scientists and philosophers refuse to acknowledge these phenomena because they are not consistent with their exclusive conception of the world. Rejection of post-materialist investigation of nature or refusal to publish strong science findings supporting a post-materialist framework are antithetical to the true spirit of scientific inquiry, which is that empirical data must always be adequately dealt with. Data which do not fit favored theories and beliefs cannot be dismissed as priori. Such dismissal is the realm of ideology, not science.” - Dr. Gary Schwartz, professor of psychology, medicine, neurology, psychiatry and surgery at the University of Arizona (1)

In 2001, international medical journal, The Lancet, published a 13 year study on Near Death Experiences (NDEs). (2)(3)

“Our results show that medical factors cannot account for the occurrence of NDE. All patients had a cardiac arrest, and were clinically dead with unconsciousness resulting from insufficient blood supply to the brain. In those circumstances, the EEG (a measure of brain electrical activity) becomes flat, and if CPR is not started within 5-10 minutes, irreparable damage is done to the brain and the patient will die”

A total of 344 patients were monitored by the team of researchers, and an astounding 18 percent of them had some sort of memory from when they were dead, or unconscious (no brain activity), and 12 percent (1 out of every had a very strong and “deep” experience. Keep in mind that these experiences have occurred when there is no electrical activity in the brain following cardiac arrest.

Another study comes out of the University of Southampton, where scientists found evidence that awareness can continue for at least several minutes after death. In the scientific world this was thought to be impossible. The study is the world’s largest near death experiences study ever published, and it was published in the journal Resuscitation. (4)

“In 2008, a large-scale study involving 2060 patients from 15 hospitals in the United Kingdom, United States and Austria was launched. The AWARE (AWAreness during REsuscitation) study, sponsored by the University of Southampton in the UK, examined the broad range of mental experiences in relation to death. Researchers also tested the validity of conscious experiences using objective markers for the first time in a large study to determine whether claims of awareness compatible with out-of-body experiences correspond with real or hallucinatory events. ” (source)

This type of phenomenon has not only been recorded looking at Near Death Experience’s, but also with studies in the realm of parapsychology. One study in particular that related most to this topic, spanning more than two decades, was conducted by researchers at Stanford University in conjunction with the United States Department of Defense. It was called the “remote viewing program.”

A gentlemen by the name of Ingo Swann was able to successfully describe and view a ring around Jupiter, a ring that scientists had no idea existed. This took place precisely before the first ever flyby of Jupiter by NASA’s Pioneer 10 spacecraft, which confirmed that the ring did actually exist. These results were published in advance of the rings’ discovery. The successful viewing of the ring by Ingo came after scientists observed him identify physical objects in hidden envelopes that were placed a few hundred kilometers away.(5)(6)(7)

You can read more about this remote viewing study here.

This type of thing lies within the realm of extended human capacities, and is one example out of many that have been documented and observed, yet lack a scientific (materialistic) framwork that provides some sort of theory.

“I shall not commit the fashionable stupidity of regarding everything I cannot explain as a fraud. ” – Dr. Carl Jung

Again, I’d like to stress that the information in this article is not even a fraction of the total amount of research that’s available out there. There is study after study, book after book, and lecture upon lecture. This is simply a very brief and condensed summary of a topic that has been examined for years.

If this type of thing sparks your interest, I hope I’ve provided you with enough information to further your research. I’m going to leave you with this video, an insider’s perspective regarding NDEs.

https://sites.google.com/site/chs4o8pt/summary_of_evidence

Evidence for the Afterlife, Non-physical Consciousness

There is extraordinary evidence for the afterlife.
http://sites.google.com/site/chs4o8pt/summary_of_evidence(Includes links to free e-books on the evidence for the afterlife.)
http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/2014/04/near-death-experiences-and-afterlife.html#facts_evidence
This evidence includes:

• Mediumship: Proxy sittings, Drop-in communicators, Cross-correspondences. 
  
• Near-death experiences, veridical near-death experiences, and shared near-death experiences.
  
• Death-bed visions, veridical death-bed visions, and shared death-bed visions.
  
• Apparitions and multiple witness apparitions.
  
• Children who remember past lives including those with an unusual type of birth mark on their body where an injury was sustained in the previous life.
  

Neither ESP or Super-psi can explain the evidence for the afterlife:

• Poltergeist phenomena not associated with a particular person, drop-in communicators, cross-correspondences, etc.
  http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/2009/06/survival-and-super-psi.html
  
• Mrs. Piper's Mediumship:
  http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/2009/05/further-record-of-observations-of.html
  

Nobel Prize winners Max Planck, Erwin Schrödinger, Brian Josephson, Sir John Eccles, Eugene Wigner, George Wald and other great scientists and philosophers such as John von Neumann, Kurt Gödel, Wernher von Braun, Karl Popper, and Carl Jung believed consciousness is non-physical because of the evidence: 
http://sites.google.com/site/chs4o8pt/eminent_researchers
Consciousness is not produced by the brain. Consciousness is not an illusion or an epiphenomenon or an emergent property of the brain. Objective measurable physical phenomena cannot produce unmeasurable subjective experience. Correlation does not prove causation, the brain does not produce consciousness it filters consciousness. Natural selection would not produce consciousness. The brain is not a conscious computer.
http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-materialist-explanation-of.html
Why you should not automatically trust "skeptics" but should demand the same high level of proof from "skeptics" that they demand for claims of the paranormal: Skeptical Misdirection:
http://sites.google.com/site/chs4o8pt/skeptical_misdirection

Near-death experiences between science and prejudice 1

During the past decade, an increasing number of studies have focused their attention on the intriguing phenomenon known as “Near-Death Experiences” (NDEs). NDEs are defined as an altered state of consciousness that occurs during an episode of unconsciousness as a result of a life-threatening condition (Moody, 1975). Under these circumstances, patients often report perceiving a tunnel, a bright light, deceased relatives, mental clarity, a review of their lives, and out-of-body experiences (OBEs) in which they describe a feeling of separation from their bodies and the ability to watch themselves from a different perspective (for recent reviews, see Holden et al., 2009; Facco, 2010; van Lommel, 2010; Agrillo, 2011). It is worth noting that the content of NDEs is similar worldwide, across cultures and all times (Belanti et al., 2008). NDEs may occur in people of both genders and all ages, educational and socioeconomic levels, beliefs, and life experiences (Bush, 2002). 

A prejudicial refusal of facts that appear trascendent or paranormal might wrongly lead to neglecting them due to their apparent incompatibility with the widely accepted materialistic view of the world and known scientific laws. According to van Lommel (2010), “true science does not restrict itself to narrow materialistic assumptions but is open to new and initially inexplicable findings and welcome the challenge of finding explanatory theories” (p. 331).

The idea that NDEs are the mere results of a brain function gone awry looks to rely more on speculation than facts (Mobbs and Watt, 2011) and suffers from bias in skipping both the facts and hypotheses that challenge the reductionist approach (e.g., see van Lommel, 2004, 2011; Facco, 2010; Greyson, 2010b; Agrillo, 2011). Simple advocated physical causes, such as anoxia/ischemia, explain very well the common experience of fainting, but are far from explaining the nature of NDEs or why NDEs occur in only a minority of cases, as already emphasized by van Lommel et al. (2001). Furthermore, complete brain anoxia with absent electrical activity in cardiac arrest is incompatible with any form of consciousness, according to present scientific knowledge, making the finding of an explanation for NDEs a challenging task for the ruling physicalist and reductionist view of biomedicine (Kelly et al., 2007; Greyson, 2010b; van Lommel, 2010). 

A few well-witnessed cases of NDEs suggest the possibility of a partial dissociation between body and mind (Sabom, 1998; van Lommel et al., 2001; van Lommel, 2011): they sound odd and hardly compatible with our present knowledge, but might be a clue of possible, still unknown properties of consciousness. Even the oddest facts, if true, should not be neglected but rather received with an open mind and investigated for the sake of coherence with the essence of scientific knowledge.

The relationship between mind and brain, the so-called “hard problem,” is still an unsolved problem 

1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3399124/

Life and consciousness – The Vedāntic view 1

Noble prize winner, Szent-Györgyi also brilliantly presented the outcome of the mechanistic view of an organism:
“As scientists attempt to understand a living system, they move down from dimension to dimension, from one level of complexity to the next lower level. I followed this course in my own studies. I went from anatomy to the study of tissues, then to electron microscopy and chemistry, and finally to quantum mechanics. This downward journey through the scale of dimensions has its irony, for in my search for the secret of life, I ended up with atoms and electrons, which have no life at all. Somewhere along the line life has run out through my fingers. So, in my old age, I am now retracing my steps, trying to fight my way back.”4

 In Darwinism, organisms are often assumed as optimally designed machines blindly engineered by natural selection. However, based on cell cognition, Shapiro challenges that view:
“Given the exemplary status of biological evolution, we can anticipate that a paradigm shift in our understanding of that subject will have repercussions far outside the life sciences. A shift from thinking about gradual selection of localized random changes to sudden genome restructuring by sensory network-influenced cell systems is a major conceptual change. It replaces the “invisible hands” of geological time and natural selection with cognitive networks and cellular functions for self-modification. The emphasis is systemic rather than atomistic and information-based rather than stochastic.” (Page 145 in).³³

1) http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19420889.2015.1085138

How consciousness points to dualism 2

http://reasonandscience.heavenforum.org/t1284-near-death-experience-evidence-of-dualism#5105



Lying down, almost asleep… wait… vibrations, tingling …. I’m…I’m separating …. lifting above my body …. floating above my body, …. looking down I see myself lying there …   Who am I? .. I know who I am and I can see my body …. but I’m not in the body….

Are these experiences “real” or brain pathology?  Could they be “merely dreams.”  In the waking state identity is closely related to our body, as well as our situation, family, profession, and experiences.  In the dream state the relations are less clear.

Out of Body Experiences

In a study of NDE  after cardiac arrest and successful resuscitation almost 20% included out of body experiences. OBE’s have been produced in otherwise completely normal people with electric currents from implanted electrodes in specific brain regions.  Transcranial magnetic stimulation applied to multisensory regions can also alter body perception.

OBE’s are described in different levels:

First, sensing being near a person that you know is yourself, although you are still in your body.

Second, a fluctuation between being in your self and then being in the other person who can see yourself.

Third, leaving the body and observing it from outside, such as below you or next to you. A very unusual aspect of this is the fact that many also visualize the room or other people near them.

Fourth, returning to your body.

OBE’s were at first considered a psychosis, or depersonalization, but this is not consistent with current research.

Jon Lieff MD :

The fact that OBE’s can be stimulated in the laboratory clearly demonstrates that the sense of “I”, the self-identity, can be separated from the body consciousness.  Studies of body maps are also consistent with this view because they show that body consciousness is constantly changing through neuroplasticity. Therefore, ultimately, the sense of self is independent of the body sense, although normally extremely associated with it. The sense of “I,” or identity, is also ordinarily very attached to the self perceptions involving our professions, families, and other strongly held beliefs and feelings.

The narrative that we create for ourselves is also independent of this sense of “I”. One very interesting aspect of the self-narrative that is constantly being developed in our mind is its unusual relation to the sense of “I”. When we imagine either a past or future event or experience including ourselves, we visualize our place in this image in the third person. That is, we see and experience our body included in the scene with others. It is not visualized from the first person perspective.

This same sense of third person is implicit in our almost universal description of “our body”, not, for example, “the body.”  Saying “our body” implies that it is an object not the observer of the object. This is similar to the way we refer to our car, our house, or our profession. It is not “me””; it is “my car”, “my house”, or “my body”.  The “I” or “Me” is something different.

1. http://jonlieffmd.com/blog/could-everyone-have-hidden-extraordinary-talents-and-experiences
2. http://jonlieffmd.com/blog/extraordinary-mental-states-iii-body-consciousness-and-out-of-body-experiences

LIFE AFTER DEATH. Medical evidence. (1h.10 min.documentary)
1. The case of Pam Reynolds. Scientific evidence of life after death (9 min 55 sec -14 min)
2. The case of atheist Howard Storm (29 min 40 sec -34 min 45 sec)
3. Dannion Brinkley (34 min 50 sec - 40 min 40 sec)
4. The case of Thetus Tenney (40 min 50 sec - 43 min 12 sec)
5. The case of Katie (1h 4min 45sec - 1h 7min 40sec)
Medical/Scientific statements from:
1. Dr. Kenneth Ring, Professor Emeritus of psychology at the University of Connecticut
2. J. P. Moreland is Distinguished Professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University in La Mirada, California
3. Raymond A. Moody M.D (Doctor of Medicine), Ph.D.
Moody earned a PhD (1969) in philosophy from the University of Virginia. He also obtained a PhD in psychology from the University of West Georgia, then known as West Georgia College, where he later became a professor in the topic. In 1976, he was awarded an M.D. from the Medical College of Georgia. After obtaining his M.D., Moody worked as a forensic psychiatrist in a maximum-security Georgia state hospital. In 1998, Moody was appointed Chair in Consciousness Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 4. Dr. Michael Sabom.
Dr. Michael Sabom, MD is a cardiologist in Blairsville, Georgia. He is currently licensed to practice medicine in Georgia and North Carolina. He is affiliated with Union General Hospital, Northeast Georgia Medical Center, and Piedmont Hospital.
5. Dr. Melvin L. Morse.
Melvin L. Morse is an American medical doctor who specialized in Pediatric medicine. He was voted by his peers as one of “America’s Best Doctors” in 1997-98,2001-2002 and 2005–2006. He has published numerous scientific articles in medical journals over the course of his thirty year career. As the author of several books, Morse has appeared on many talk show and television programs to discuss his extensive research on near death experiences in children
6. Francis Crick biochimist Nobel Prize
Francis Harry Compton Crick (8 June 1916 – 28 July 2004) was a British molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, most noted for being a co-discoverer of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953 with James Watson. Together with Watson and Maurice Wilkins, he was jointly awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material".
7. Paul Davies physicist
Paul Charles William Davies, AM (born 22 April 1946) is an English physicist, writer and broadcaster, a professor at Arizona State University as well as the Director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science. He is affiliated with the Institute for Quantum Studies at Chapman University in California. He has held previous academic appointments at the University of Cambridge, University College London, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, University of Adelaide and Macquarie University. His research interests are in the fields of cosmology, quantum field theory, and astrobiology.
8. Sir John Carew Eccles physiologist Nobel Prize
Sir John Carew Eccles, (born Jan. 27, 1903, Melbourne, Australia—died May 2, 1997, Contra, Switz.), Australian research physiologist who received (with Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley) the 1963 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the chemical means by which impulses are communicated or repressed by nerve cells (neurons).
9. Owen Gingerich astronomer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Owen Jay Gingerich is professor emeritus of astronomy and of the history of science at Harvard University and a senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. In addition to his research and teaching, he has written many books on the history of astronomy. Gingerich is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the International Academy of the History of Science.
10. Dr. Fred Wolf physicist
Fred Alan Wolf is an American theoretical physicist specializing in quantum physics and the relationship between physics and consciousness. He is a former physics professor at San Diego State University, and has helped to popularize science on the Discovery Channel. He is the author of a number of physics-themed books including Taking the Quantum Leap (1981), The Dreaming Universe (1994), Mind into Matter (2000), and Time Loops and Space Twists (2011). Wolf was a member in the 1970s of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory's Fundamental Fysiks Group founded in May 1975 by Elizabeth Rauscher and George Weissmann.

Discrepancy Between Cerebral Structure and Cognitive Functioning: A Review - 2017
Excerpt: The aforementioned student of mathematics had a global IQ of 130 and a verbal IQ of 140 at the age of 25 (Lorber, 1983), but had “virtually no brain” (Lewin 1980, p. 1232).,,,
This student belonged to the group of patients that Lorber classified as having “extreme
hydrocephalus,” meaning that more than 90% of their cranium appeared to be filled with cerebrospinal fluid (Lorber, 1983).,,,
Apart from the above-mentioned student of mathematics, he described a woman with an extreme degree of hydrocephalus showing “virtually no cerebral mantle” who had an IQ of 118, a girl aged 5 who had an IQ of 123 despite extreme hydrocephalus, a 7-year-old boy with gross hydrocephalus and an IQ of 128, another young adult with gross hydrocephalus and a verbal IQ of 144, and a nurse and an English teacher who both led normal lives despite gross hydrocephalus.,,,
Another interesting case is that of a 44-year-old woman with very gross hydrocephalus described by Masdeu (2008) and Masdeu et al. (2009). She had a global IQ of 98, worked as an administrator for a government agency, and spoke seven languages.,,,
,,, , people who grew up with only one hemisphere developed all the neuronal foundations
needed for ordinary cognitive and most motor skills. Even so, it seems additionally surprising that one hemisphere can accomplish this after the other has been removed or was isolated anatomically and functionally from the rest of the brain, as it is the case of surgical hemispherectomy.,,,
It is astonishing that many patients can lead an ordinary life after this drastic procedure, having only minor motor disabilities that result from mild hemiplegia.,,,
McFie (1961) was astonished that “not only does it (one hemishere) perform motor and sensory functions for both sides of the body, it performs the associative and intellectual functions normally allocated to two hemispheres” (p. 248).,,,
,,, most patients, even adults, do not seem to lose their long-term memory such as episodic
(autobiographic) memories.,,,
Finally, we will present additional considerations about memory processing, especially in savants. In this respect, Kim Peek (1951–2009) was most remarkable in that he seemed to possess a perfect memory: he forgot nothing he ever read and remembered complete
melodies, even if he heard them only once. Most remarkably, his brain showed considerable malformations that included a deformed cerebellum, abnormalities of the left hemisphere, and the complete lack of the corpus callosum, as well as the anterior and posterior commissures. In addition, much of the skull interior comprised empty areas that were filled with cerebrospinal fluid, as in hydrocephalic subjects (Treffert and Christensen, 2005). Nevertheless, he memorized more than 12,000 books, apparently verbatim, the contents of which amounted to an encyclopedic knowledge in multiple areas of interest.
Typically, he would read a page in eight to ten seconds, and then turn to the next page. He even read two pages of smaller books such as paperbacks simultaneously, using one eye each for each page. Moreover, he had impressive calendar calculating abilities (Treffert, 2010).

"...breakthroughs in quantum mechanics have given us clear, unambiguous, evidence that mind/consciousness precedes not only life on earth but precedes all of material reality in the universe altogether.

A team of physicists in Vienna has devised experiments that may answer one of the enduring riddles of science: Do we create the world just by looking at it? – 2008

Excerpt: In mid-2007 Fedrizzi found that the new realism model was violated by 80 orders of magnitude; the group was even more assured that quantum mechanics was correct.
http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/the_reality_tests/

1. Consciousness either preceded all of material reality or is a ‘epi-phenomena’ of material reality.
2. If consciousness is a ‘epi-phenomena’ of material reality then consciousness will be found to have no special position within material reality. Whereas conversely, if consciousness precedes material reality then consciousness will be found to have a special position within material reality.
3. Consciousness is found to have a special, even central, position within material reality.
4. Therefore, consciousness is found to precede material reality.

Four intersecting lines of experimental evidence from quantum mechanics that shows that consciousness precedes material reality (Wigner’s Quantum Symmetries, Wheeler’s Delayed Choice, Leggett’s Inequalities, Quantum Zeno effect):
https://docs.google.com/.../1G_Fi50ljF5w.../edit

Christ is the WORD, that conscious Mind that is the root and source of all other existences.
"And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."
Colossians 1:17

The WORD is the foundation for all that exists.
Words are expressed thoughts, they are information.

Think about that for a moment and you cannot fail to see why the biblical account is necessarily the correct one. Information (the word) is also the basis of all life. DNA is an information molecule.
Your DNA (information) is the "Word" that describes exactly how to make a "you".

Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness – Richard Conn Henry – Professor of Physics – John Hopkins University

Excerpt: "It is more than 80 years since the discovery of quantum mechanics gave us the most fundamental insight ever into our nature: the overturning of the Copernican Revolution, and the restoration of us human beings to centrality in the Universe.
And yet, have you ever before read a sentence having meaning similar to that of my preceding sentence? Likely you have not, and the reason you have not is, in my opinion, that physicists are in a state of denial…"

One can go on and on showing how quantum mechanics points to intelligence behind the universe. Consciousness, Mind precedes all material existence.

"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God, He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men."

That is the most concise, precise, profound statement of existence evert uttered.

In the 2nd century, Clement of Alexandria wrote that one of the atheistic Platonic philosophers, said of John 1:1, “This barbarian hath comprised more stupendous stuff in three lines, than we have done in all our voluminous discourses.”

Indeed. And we today can utterly rely on that Word "above all earthly powers".

Atheists have no clue of the glorious majesty of the Word that they deny and thus miss out on, bankrupting themselves in every possible manner - rejecting the very source of their own existence. The folly is unspeakable. Hence, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God'; they are corrupt".

Mind and brain: A scientific discussion leading to the existence of the soul

Introduction
Certainly the problem of consciousness has been widely discussed in philosophy. Since the aim of this article is to discuss the subject of consciousness from a scientific point of view, I will not dwell upon the different definitions and conceptions adopted by philosophers. I limit myself to define consciousness or psychical life as our capacity to feel sensations, emotions, thoughts etc. I will use the word "intelligence" because today this word is often combined to the concept of artificial intelligence, which does not imply and kind of consciousness. Science, contrary to philosophy, is always based on the observation of phenomena; the possibility of an experimental check is basically what distinguishes a scientific theory from a philosophical idea. Consciousness is a directly observable phenomenon, of which we have then a full experimental evidence (indeed, it represents the foundations of every other experimental observation, since if we were not conscious, we could observe no phenomena); the phenomenon "consciousness" deserves then to be analysed from a scientific viewpoint. 

What is the brain?
Now we know that our brain is only a set of particles, such as electrons and protons, interacting through the electromagnetic field. Every biological process is due only to the chemical reactions, which in their turn, are due only to the electromagnetic interaction among the electrons and the protons of the atoms forming our organism. Every neuron and every cell are nothing but sets of electrons, protons and neutrons, in a given spatial arrangement; the electromagnetic interaction may in fact be attractive so that particles may attract one another and form certain geometrical arrangements in the space. The properties of every (including also DNA molecules) and every biological process are due only to the laws of physics; more precisely, since in our organism no nuclear reactions occur and gravitational forces are too weak to interfere with molecular processes, every biological process is due uniquely to the laws of quantum electrodynamics.
   Science has proved that all chemical, biological and cerebral processes consist only in some successions of elementary physical processes, determined in their turn only by the laws of quantum mechanics. Such a view of biological processes does not allow to account for the existence of consciousness; so, materialism is incompatible with science. On the other hand, every materialistic attempt to explain the existence of consciousness implies that what suffers, loves, desires, feels etc. in us are objects such as electrons or electromagnetic fields. The point is that objects can feel nothing at all; objects cannot feel happiness, sadness, love, anger,self-awareness, etc. Science has proved that the equations of the electromagnetic field are universal; they describe the electromagnetic field within our brain as well as within a copper wire or an atom. There is no trace of consciousness, sensations, emotions, etc. in the equations of physics. These equations do not explain the existence of consciousness and our capacity to feel. If one hypothesizes that the electromagnetic fields are responsible of our sensations, emotions and thoughts, the only logical conclusion would be that also our television, our washing machine, etc. sometimes would be happy or depressed. In fact, from a scientific point of view there is no difference between the electromagnetic fields present in our brain and the ones present in those objects.
  The claim that the electric impulses in our brain are or generate sensations and thoughts, is in contradiction with the laws of physics that consider equivalent all electric impulses, inside or outside our brain. In fact, an electric impulse is formed only by some electrons moving in a certain direction; according to the laws of physics, electrons are all equal and indistinguishable, and they are always moving in every material or electric circuits. To ascribe to the electrons in our brain the property to generate consciousness, and not to ascribe the same property to the electrons moving in a bulb, is in contradiction with quantum physics, which establishes that all electrons are equal and indistinguishable, that is they have all exactly the same properties.
  Besides, the laws of physics establish that electric impulses generate only electromagnetic fields; so the materialistic hypothesis that the electric impulses in the brain generate sensations, emotions and thoughts is in striking contradiction with the laws of physics. The electromagnetic waves generated by the electric impulses in our brain are absolutely equivalent to the ones generated by any other electric impulses; such waves go out of our brain and travel in the external space at the velocity of light, as every electromagnetic wave.
  The laws of physics establish which kind of processes occur in the physical reality; excluding nuclear and subnuclear reactions, that do not occur in biological systems, the only possible processes are the movement of particles and the exchange of energy among particles (collisions) or between a particle and the electromagnetic field (absorption and emission of photons). The only possible physical processes are determined by a mathematical operator called "Hamiltonian", which determines also the only possible kind of energy of the physical reality; in fact, the Hamiltonian is formed by the sum of a few terms, each determining a specific kind of energy, such as the kinetic energy of the electron or the energy of the photon. In order to have new processes or other kind of energy it is necessary to add some new term to the Hamiltonian; however, this would modify the equations of physics, and consequently it would change all their solutions (see the paragraph entitled "The laws of physics and History").
   In conclusion, the laws of physics deny the basic hypothesis of materialism, according to which consciousness would be generated by cerebral processes. The laws of physics do not allow us to explain (neither conceptually ), the existence of consciousness; they allow to explain neither the existence of the most banal sensation.

Biological life does not imply consciousness
Science has proved that our brain is only a set of particles (that is an object), and that biological life consists uniquely in a succession of chemical reactions, which, in their turn, consist uniquely in physical processes (more precisely, in quantum-electromagnetic processes). On the other hand, consciousness transcends the laws of physics and cannot then be considered the product of biological and cerebral processes. This implies that our mind and our brain are not the same entity, but two different yet interacting entities. I use the word "psyche" to indicate this non-physical/non-biological element, necessarily present in man, that is man's component responsible of the existence of our consciousness and psychical life. Of course, other words could be used, such as mind, spirit or soul.
  At this point, we should try to understand whether there is a scientific evidence of the existence of some sort of consciousness also in animals. Now we know that it is possible to simulate with a computer every feature of the behavior of animals, including their capacity to learn and their apparent capacity to recognize their image in a mirror. An adequate software can allow the computer to record input data, analyze them and give specific outputs; all these operations occur automatically, without any consciousness, any sensations, any emotions, any thoughts. For example a computer, connected to a camera, can analyse the external images; this occur automatically through some mathematical algorithms, and the computer has no visual sensations. This proves that the fact that a dog can distinguish a bone from a stick, does not imply that the dog has a visual sensation.
  Therefore it is not possible to exclude from a scientific and rational point of view, that the life of animals is only a purely biological/chemical process without any kind of consciousness (neither sensations or emotions). In other words, science cannot exclude the possibility that the animal is only a biological robot, feeling nothing at all, which actions and reactions are uniquely determined by a chemical software implanted in its brain. It is also possible to explain those behaviors of animals, which are usually considered as an indication of emotions. For example, the dogs which, because of some genetic mutations, presented some affectionate behaviors, had a greater probability to be adopted by man, and consequently, to survive. It was sufficient that the animal presented those behaviors also towards only a member of the family (even not the one who gave it food) to be accepted by the family. It would be only a case of natural selection, even if unawares induced by man, who has programmed the behavior and the reactions of the dog. Since we have no way to observe directly the existence of any kind of consciousness in animals, and the hypothesis of existence of consciousness in animals is not necessary to explain the observable phenomena in animals, we can conclude that there is no experimental or scientific evidence of the existence of any kind of consciousness in animals, neither sensations or emotions.
  The idea that animals have sensations and emotions is then only an arbitrary hypothesis, without any scientific or rational foundations. Such an hypothesis can be considered only a reminiscence of childhood, since all children tend to ascribe to animals thoughts, sensations and emotions. Besides, primitive peoples were used to anthropomorphize many natural elements; the sun, the moon, the mountains, animals, etc. During history man has then understood that natural phenomena occur automatically because of specific natural laws: man has understood that nature is only an object and not a person. The anthropomorfic concept of animals is then only the last residue of this inclination to anthropomorphize natural processes. Now the technological and scientific progress allow us to explain the behavior of animals without ascribing them any anthropomorphic features.

Cerebral activity and consciousness
I would like to point out that the fact that brain damages or drugs induce changes in our mental capacities simply proves the existence of an interaction between the brain and the psyche. By no means this can be considered a proof that the brain is the origin of consciousness and the capacity to feel sensations, emotions, thoughts, etc. If you have a problem in your eyes, your visual capacities would be altered, but this certainly does not mean that it is your eye which has the visual sensation; this simply proves that your eye has a preliminary role in the process of generation of the visual sensation. The eye is only an instrument used by the psyche to see, but the eye can see nothing at all and has no visual sensations. In the same way, the brain has only a preliminary role in the process of generation of sensations or emotions, and it can be considered an instrument used by the psyche. All neurological studies on brain only prove the existence of an interaction between psyche and brain. But the existence of this interaction is obvious; in fact, without this interaction, our psyche would be completely isolated from the external reality, and we could not interact with the external reality.
  It must be stressed that the physical stimulus and the sensation we feel are two completely different phenomena. For example, the vibrations of the molecules of the air are not the sensation "sound" we feel; the molecules of the air hear nothing, and it would be absurd to say that the molecules of the air are an auditory sensation. The sensation "sound" exist only in the psychical reality, and not in the physical reality; the auditory sensation is generated only by the psyche and is the psychical elaboration of a physical stimulus. In the same way, the chemical reactions and the electric impulses which occur in our brain are not emotions, feelings, awareness; they are only physical stimuli. It is the our psyche who elaborates and translates these ordinary physical processes into emotions, feelings, etc.

The laws of physics and the other natural sciences
Now I would like to give some considerations about the reliability of our scientific knowledges. First of all I would like to explain the difference between a phenomenological theory and a first-principle theory. A phenomenological theory is only an approximated and simplified version of a first-principle theory, that represents the exact explanation of natural phenomena. Biology and neurology are examples of phenomenological theories, while physics is the only first-principle theory, from which all the other natural sciences derive. Of course, since first principle calculations are very lengthy and arduous, we need also simplified theories in order to treat more easily systems formed by many atoms.
  The laws of physics have a general validity, but in their application to specific systems, it is possible to use simpler rules, specific for that kind of system; these rules are neither extraneous, nor independent from the laws of physics, but they are a direct consequence of the law of physics. A result of these phenomenological theories cannot be accepted if it results to be in contradiction with the laws of physics, which are the only true principles at the origin of the phenomenological theory. Only the laws of physics represent the first-principle explanation of the material reality, both inorganic and organic matter. Obviously, an approximated theory (such as biology and neurology) cannot be used to deny the exact theory from which the approximated theory derives.
  All natural sciences are then subordinate to physics. We can also point out that all natural sciences (biology, neurology, etc.) use in their studies and in their microscopic analysis only instruments that have been designed uniquely on the basis of the laws of physics. The data studied and analysed by these natural sciences have sense only because the laws of physics assure the correct working of their instruments. If the laws of physics are questioned, all other natural sciences would immediately fall down to pieces, because all the microscopic data used by these sciences to support their theories, would lose any meaning. Therefore , no natural sciences can elaborate theories in contradiction with the laws of physics. This would mean to make all data to lose sense, data on which the phenomenological theories have been built; it is an obvious logical contradiction. The laws of physics are then the foundations of all natural sciences.
  To understand better the relationship between Physics and the other natural sciences, consider the following example: to open a combination lock, we need know the combination. Even if we do not know the combination, and therefore we cannot open the lock, we already know what kind of process will occur when we find the combination. The laws of mechanics establish that the only kind of process we will get is the opening of the lock; the laws of mechanics establish that the combination will not make the lock begin to think, feel pain or pleasure, feel sadness or joy. Similarly, Quantum Electrodynamics establish that every biological process consists only in some successions of chemical reactions, which, in their turn, consist in successions of kinetic and electromagnetic processes, that is movement of particles, emission and absorption of photons. We do not know yet the exact successions of chemical reactions occurring in all biological processes, and biology has the task to discover these successions; however, exactly as in the case of the combination lock, the laws of physics establish that no successions of chemical reactions can generate consciousness, sensations, emotions or thoughts. Hence, a non-physical element (the soul) must exist as the source of our consciousness and our psychical life.

The laws of physics and history
  The laws generating all chemical, biological, neurological processes are now perfectly known. Never before in history, science has been able to explain the principles by which all biological processes are originated. This represents a true turn in history. All that physics will discover in the future will have nothing to do with the biological processes in our organism, or any other organism. Even if there are still some things not perfectly known in astrophysics, these astrophysical process do not affect biological processes, which are due uniquely to the laws of quantum electrodynamics. There is then no reason to question the validity of the laws of physics in the explanation of biological or neurological processes.
  The laws of physics consists of a system of mathematical equations. Their mathematical structure exclude the possibility that these equations can be modified; in fact, even a slight change in a mathematical equation would generates radical changes in all its solutions. We have already found billions and billions of correct solutions from the laws of physics; if we changed them, we would suddenly cast away all these correct solutions. On the other hand, every day we find a systematic experimental confirmation of the laws of physics on ever new systems. To hypothesize that the laws of physics are wrong would be equivalent to say that all these billions and billions of systematic and quantitative experimental confirmations are only a lucky coincidence. In these last decades, we have done many more experiments than in all history, but the laws of quantum electrodynamics, discovered in the beginning of last century, have never been changed. On the basis of the number of experimental tests, we can say that quantum electrodynamics is the oldest scientific theory in history.

First principle Calculations
  Today we are able to do first-principle calculations for molecular systems formed by many atoms; this means that we can calculate the solutions of the equations of quantum physics also for macroscopic systems. The point is that we already know what KIND of information we can get from a first-principle calculation for every possible molecular system. In fact from the solution of the Schroedinger equation for a molecular system we know that we can obtain information such as charge distributions or energy spectra. By no means we can obtain consciousness, emotions, feelings, etc. These are not possible outputs of a first-principle calculation. Even if we had a supercomputer with the capacity to find the wave function for our brain, we could find from the wave function only properties such as charge density or energy spectra. We could not find consciousness from the wave function calculated with the super computer. In fact we already know what KIND of properties can be obtained from every possible wave function. We are already able to do first-principle calculations for many different molecular systems, but the kind of properties we can find from their wave functions does not depend on which molecular system we have studied, because they are general outputs of every first-principle calculation, and it is independent from the kind of atoms or the number of atoms of the system. If the psyche did not exist as a non-physical component of man, according to our scientific knowledges we should be only a sort of biological robots, without any consciousness and without feeling anything, which actions and reactions were due only to chemical reactions . All the neurological studies prove only the existence of an interaction between psyche and brain, but they reveal nothing about the nature of the psyche.

Conclusions
   Materialism is incompatible with the scientific view of biological processes. Science has in fact proved that all chemical, biological and cerebral processes consist only in some successions of elementary physical processes, determined in their turn only by the laws of quantum mechanics. This view of biological processes does not allow (neither conceptually) to account for the existence of consciousness;nor it allows to account for the existence of the most banal sensation. This result acquires a very deep meaning if we analyse the state of our present scientific knowledges. First of all, all natural sciences are subordinate to the laws of physics, which represent the principles from which they derive and of which they are only approximative versions. Today in fact we know the laws which determine all molecular, electromagnetic, chemical, biological and neurological processes: they are the laws of Quantum Electrodynamics, the scientific laws which have received the most wide, general, systematic, numerous and precise experimental confirmations in all history. The laws of quantum electrodynamics are confirmed by such a huge number of experimental results that it would be absurd to question their validity in the explanation of molecular systems, and in particular, of biological systems.
    On the other hand, the rigidity of the mathematical structure of quantum electrodynamics, makes absolutely unreasonable the hypothesis of a possible change of such laws, since this would have dramatic consequences on all the correct solutions we have presently obtained. This means that quantum electrodynamics can be considered the ultimate theory for the explanation of molecular processes, and, consequently, for the explanation of biological processes.
    The laws of quantum electrodynamics can be considered the first principles which determine all molecular and biological processes. The point is that such principles give (at least conceptually) a mechanicistic explanation of all molecular and biological processes, but they do not allow to explain (neither conceptually ) the existence of consciousness. The laws of physics deny the basic hypothesis of materialism, according to which consciousness would be generated by biological or cerebral processes. Consciousness transcends the laws of physics, and therefore, the cause of the existence of consciousness cannot be identified with the brain; consciousness is necessarily originated by a non-physical/non-biological (that is, a supernatural) component: the psyche or soul. There are then two distinct realities; the physical reality, that is the universe, which has an intrinsic mathematical structure (the laws of physics) determining every physical, chemical and biological process; the psychical reality, which transcends such laws, and consequently, transcends the physical reality.
  At this point we must consider the question: where does our psyche come from? The phenomenon of consciousness proves that, at a certain time, our psyche certainly begins to exist in us. The laws of physics prove that the psyche cannot be the product of physical, chemical or biological processes. Therefore, the origin of our psyche is transcendent to the physical reality. We can then identify with God the necessary Cause of the existence of the psyche, being such Cause transcendent. This represents a scientific confirmation of the christian doctrine according to which each man has a soul, created directly by God. I think that it is correct to say that today the existence of the soul and the existence of a transcendent God are scientifically proved.

A note about the theory of evolution
  I would like to add a brief consideration about the theory of evolution. The theory of evolution can be applied only to biological organisms. We do not have sufficient elements to establish whether the human biological organism is the result of an evolution process; neither we have sufficient elements to exclude this possibility. However, the point is that consciousness is transcendent to the physical/biological reality and requires the existence in man of a transcendent component (the psyche or soul).
  Since no fossils of psyche exist, the theory of evolution can say nothing about the origin of consciousness and human psychical life. So, even if our organism derived from a previous animal organism, we could have no conscious psychical life if God had not created in each of us a soul. Without a soul, we would be only biological robots, able to act and react, but without any consciousness and incapable of feeling any sensations, emotions, thoughts, etc.

Materialists deny the existence of the psyche as an entity transcendent to physical reality and claim that sensations, emotions and thoughts are generated by cerebral processes, that is by matter. In my previous article I have explained how these ideas are denied by modern science, but here I will analyze in detail the logical and scientific inconsistencies of materialistic arguments.
   In materialism, consciousness is considered a complex, emergent or macroscopic property of matter, but this definition is inconsistent from a logical point of view; in fact, science has proved that the so-called macroscopic properties are only concepts used by man to describe in an approximated way real physical processes, which consist uniquely of successions of microscopic elementary processes. An example of macroscopic property often used by materialists is roughness; the materialist claims that quantum particles have o roughness, and therefore roughness is a new property, emerging only at the macroscopic level. This is completely wrong; in fact, roughness is only a concept used to describe a certain kind of geometrical distribution of the molecules in a surface. The laws of physics establish that there is an infinity of possible geometrical distributions of particles, and we can classify such possible distributions with different names, and elaborate the concepts of roughness or smoothness, etc. However these are only arbitrary and subjective concepts and classifications,used to describe how an external object appear to our conscious mind, and not how it is .
   Also the concept of a macroscopic rigid and compact object is only an optical illusion, and not a physical entity. The image of the object we see is in fact only an approximate representation of the real physical object. No object exist in nature as we see it; solid objects appear to us as if they were uniformly filled with motionless matter, while they are only sets of rapidly moving particles; matter is concentrated in a very small fraction of the space occupied by the solid object, mostly in the atomic nuclea, and it has no uniform distribution as it appears to us. The laws of physics establish that the possible properties of every particle or molecule are the same, that is the property of exchange energy with other particles or photons, and the property of movement; these are the properties of every quantum particle, and no aggregate of quantum particles can have new properties. Therefore, no real macroscopic properties exist. The macroscopic properties quoted by materialists, are not objective properties of the physical reality, but they are only abstractions or concepts used to describe our sensorial experiences; in other words, they are ideas conceived to describe or classify, according to arbitrary criteria, a given succession of microscopic processes, and these ideas exist only in a conscious and intelligent mind. Therefore, the macroscopic property, being only an abstraction, presupposes the existence of consciousness. It is obvious that consciousness cannot be considered a macroscopic property of the physical reality, because the macroscopic property itself presupposes the existence of consciousness. We have then a logical contradiction. No entities which existence presupposes the existence of consciousness can be considered as the cause of the existence of consciousness.
  Another argument used by materialists is the hypothesis that psychical life could be generated by the fact that in the brain there are many exchanges of information. Also this is a case of logical contradiction, because the concept itself of information presupposes the existence of consciousness, and so this concept cannot be used to explain the existence of consciousness. Materialists often say that also in computers there are many informations, but this is an improper language. In fact, in computers there are only electric impulses. It is the human mind who has established a conventional code that allows to identify specific successions of electric impulses as pieces of information. It is the same for the Morse alphabet: a succession of points and lines is not by itself an information; it becomes an information only if a conscious and intelligent mind has established a conventional code to attribute a given meaning to that succession of points and lines. So, every information is always the product of conscious psychical life, which proves that the concept of information cannot be used to explain the existence of consciousness.
  I would like to add a comment on a typical argument used by materialists: the psychical life exists in the brain because of its complexity. The invalidity of this argument can be easily proved with the following considerations. First of all, the concept of complexity refers to a problem; but a problem exists only as a question which someone is trying to answer. It is then man who, being conscious and intelligent, puts a problem and tries to solve it; the man then decides to classify such problem as easy or complex. So, consciousness is a preliminary necessary condition for the existence of any problems and complexity; in absence of consciousness, no problems and no complexity would exist, which proves that complexity cannot generate consciousness. Besides, the concept of complexity is an arbitrary and subjective; a given problem may be considered complex by a person and simple by another person. Since subjectivity presupposes the existence of consciousness, no subjective concept (such as the concept of complexity) can be used to try to explain the existence of consciousness. Also this is sufficient to prove the invalidity of the argument of complexity from a logical point of view. In mathematics some definitions of complexity are used, but, as every mathematical definition, they are only arbitrary definitions, without any scientific value. In mathematics, in fact, it is possible to invent infinite definitions, equations, properties, and give them any kind of name, but they are only abstract concepts which existence presupposes the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. The equations of physics are the only mathematical equations which have a scientific value because they are the only ones which have been attested by experiments. A common definition of complexity is the following: "a complex system is a set where the evolution of the single elements is predictable while it is not possible (or it is very difficult) to predict the evolution of the system". From the above definition we can clearly see how complexity has an intrinsic conceptual nature, and therefore it cannot exist independently from an intelligent mind. If fact complexity is defined in relation to the capacity to predict the evolution of a system. Only an intelligent mind can try to predict the evolution of a system. Therefore, the existence of the psychical life is a necessary preliminary condition for the existence of complexity. Hence complexity cannot generate psychical life. We can also observe that typical examples of complex systems are ecosystems, meteorologic phenomena, the Earth Crust in relation to the possibility to predict earthquakes. If by absurd we hypothesized that complexity is the cause of existence of psychical life, then also the Earth Crust or every ecosystem would have a psychical life. The concept of complexity does not exist in the laws of physics, where only concepts such as charge, mass, velocity, etc. are present. The laws of physics are the foundations of all modern science and every natural process is determined uniquely by the laws of physics; in the laws of physics there is no law of complexity and no law establishing that complexity generates consciousness! The concept of complexity is necessary to explain no chemical, biological or cerebral processes, being all these natural processes explainable by the only laws of physics.
   Let us analyse some typical examples quoted by materialists in the attempt to prove that the properties of the whole are not reducible to the properties of the parts. The first example is the electric conductor, where the electrons are free to move along all the crystal; in quantum terms, one says that their wave function is delocalized. The materialist claims that this delocalization is a new property, not-reducible to the ones of the components. This is clearly false. In fact, also the wave function of a single free electron can be delocalized, and therefore the delocalization is by no means related to the complexity of the system.
   The materialist usually claims that the whirling motion of fluids is not reducible to the properties of the components, which is clearly false. In fact the motion of fluids is nothing but the motion of the particles making up the fluid. Since the calculation of the motion of all the particles would be too difficult, one usually make use of some simplified models to describe the fluid from a macroscopic point of view. However the properties of these models are not real properties, existing in nature, but they are only approximate descriptions of the real phenomena, which consist only in the motion of the particles, forming the fluid.
   Another typical argument is the existence of some energy gaps in the electronic structures of crystals. By no means this property is related to the complexity of the system, since also in the hydrogen atom, which is made of two particles only, the possible values of energy are separated by gaps. Actually, the existence of permitted and forbidden values of energy is a typical feature of all quantum systems. The materialist usually claims that the bicycle is not only the sum of its components, which is clearly false; the bicycle is in fact only the set of its components in a given geometrical arrangement. Obviously, consciousness is not a geometrical figure, and cannot be explained as a geometrical arrangement of mechanical pieces.
   In general, one can observe that the definition of every set is arbitrary, as well as it is arbitrary to establish which element is to be considered as a part of the set and which not. The holistic or collective properties, i.e. the properties of the whole set, are necessarily subjective and arbitrary, because they depend on the definition of the set. Since consciousness is a preliminary necessary condition for the existence of arbitrariness (and consequently of every arbitrary property), it follows that consciousness cannot be considered an holistic or collective property.
   The incapacity to give any valid example of real properties, not-reducible to the properties of particles and the laws of quantum physics, proves the failure of the holistic (that is, antireductionist) philosophies. The laws of physics always allow to explain directly all the properties of atomic and molecular systems; both in macroscopic and microscopic systems, there are no properties which are not directly reducible either to ordinary geometrical properties (since matter is placed in the space) or to the properties of elementary particles and to the laws of quantum physics. The only observable phenomenon, not-reducible to the laws of physics is consciousness.
  Man can establish arbitrary criteria to classify natural phenomena, but these criteria exist only in human mind, and not in the physical reality, which is determined only by the laws of physics. All processes occurring in our brain are uniquely determined by the laws of physics, and it is not possible to use concepts extraneous to such laws (the concept of complexity or information etc.) to try to explain consciousness as a product of some cerebral processes. Such concepts presuppose the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind, transcendent to the physical reality; therefore, such concepts cannot be used to deny the existence of a reality transcendent to the physical reality. Let me give an example: if we put some bricks one over another, we will get always a heap of bricks, regardless of the fact that we can call it "house", "bridge" or "tower". The concepts of "house", "bridge" or "tower" exist only in the human mind; what exists in the physical reality are only quantum particles, such as electrons. These particles may occupy different positions in the space, so we may obtain sets of particles with different geometrical shapes. Since the electromagnetic interaction may be attractive, these particles may attract one another, and remain close to one another, forming some solid macroscopic objects. We may then choose to call a set of particles with a given shape "chair" and another set of particles with a different shape "table", etc. However these names and concepts are only abstract ideas which do not exist in the physical reality; these names and concepts presuppose the existence of consciousness, that is the existence of a conscious and intelligent person who analyses the external reality and conceives arbitrary concepts to classify it.
  The fact itself that to try to explain consciousness, materialists need resort to such concepts, extraneous to the laws of physics, is a further evidence of the transcendent nature of consciousness. No concept extraneous to the laws of physics is in fact necessary to explain chemical, biological, neurological or cerebral processes; all these processes are perfectly explained by the laws of physics. It is correct to say that the laws of physics are the cause of every physical, chemical and biological process. If the explanation of consciousness requires the introduction of some new principle, extraneous to the laws of physics, this means that consciousness transcends the laws of physics; this is equivalent to say that consciousness is not a physical phenomenon, unless we changed the laws of physics. As I have already explained, any change in the equations of physics implies the radical change of all their solutions, and then the lost of all those billions and billions of correct solutions obtained in this last century by the law of physics. Since the laws of physics are the foundations of all modern science, to change the laws of physics would imply the lost of all modern science and new start from zero. To hypothesize a change in the laws of quantum electrodynamics means to get out of science and get into purely speculative philosophy.
  The logical process of materialism is the same of idolatry; in fact, the idolater thinks that the object (idol) under certain circumstances has a psychical life, regardless of the fact that it is made with ordinary material; this is exactly what the materialist thinks, because he thinks that the object (brain) has a psychical life under certain circumstances, regardless of the fact that it is made with ordinary material (electrons, electromagnetic fields, etc.)
  A last typical contradiction in materialism is the claim that the electric impulse in the brain generate consciousness, sensations, emotions, etc. Such a claim is incompatible with the laws of physics which establish that electric impulses in our brain are equivalent to all the other electric impulses out of our brain (electric impulses are formed uniquely by some moving electrons), and that all electric impulses generate only electromagnetic fields. You must change the laws of physics if you want to claim that electric impulses generate something else beyond electromagnetic fields. Actually, materialists simply take some key words from the language of physics, such as "electric impulse", "energy", etc. and then attribute to these words new properties incompatible with the laws of physics; this is a clear abuse of scientific language.

http://xoomer.virgilio.it/fedeescienza/brainandmind.html

It is very interesting to find that life after death feels ‘even more real that real’.

The reason why this ‘more real than real’ finding for NDEs (Near Death Experiences) is a very interesting it that atheists, in their denial of the reality of God, have lost any objective basis in which to differentiate what is truly real from what is merely illusory.

Basically, because of reductive materialism (and/or methodological naturalism), the atheistic materialist is forced to claim that he is merely a ‘neuronal illusion’ (Coyne, Dennett, etc..), who has the illusion of free will (Harris), who has unreliable, (i.e. illusory), beliefs about reality (Plantinga), who has illusory perceptions of reality (Hoffman), who, since he has no real time empirical evidence substantiating his grandiose claims, must make up illusory “just so stories” with the illusory, and impotent, ‘designer substitute’ of natural selection (Behe, Gould, Sternberg), so as to ‘explain away’ the appearance (i.e. illusion) of design (Crick, Dawkins), and who must make up illusory meanings and purposes for his life since the reality of the nihilism inherent in his atheistic worldview is too much for him to bear (Weikart), and who must also hold morality to be subjective and illusory since he has rejected God (Craig, Kreeft). Who, since beauty cannot be grounded within his materialistic worldview, must hold beauty itself to be illusory (Darwin).

Bottom line, nothing is truly real in the atheist’s worldview, least of all, beauty, morality, meaning and purposes for life.,,,

It would be hard to fathom a worldview more antagonistic to modern science, indeed more antagonistic to reality itself, than Atheistic materialism and/or methodological naturalism have turned out to be.

2 Corinthians 10:5

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/depressions-have-unpredictable-consequences-in-lives-lost/?fbclid=IwAR1pWrpfDSwIG5W71OKTJhV0PcQDW2Qq1lpCROOGi8NFfJ-Edn-q7wPw3BE#comment-699328

NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES (NDEs) (none of the material is my own) - This post is more about the science and documented experiences for the topic and less about the religious implications (which may be the focus of a future post).

https://www.facebook.com/notes/creation-vs-evolution/near-death-experiences-ndes/190995298720848/

near-death experience - an unusual experience taking place on the brink of death and recounted by a person after recovery, typically an out-of-body experience or a vision of a tunnel of light.

A NDE occurs when a patient undergoes clinical death, yet is able to have a sensory experience without full use of their physical senses. According to the strict science of NDEs, the person must have a flat EEG (electroencephalogram) indicating an absence of electrical activity in the cerebral cortex, the absence of gag reflex, and fixed and dilated pupils, indicating a significant reduction of lower brain functioning.
In this state, sensory organs are non-functional, both in themselves, and in the brain’s capacity to process their signals. Furthermore, higher cerebral functions such as thinking, processing memories, and linguistic functions are either completely absent or reduced to insignificant. Lower brain activity is also minimized, though there may be some sporadic and minimal “sputtering” of pockets of deep cortical neurons in those areas.
“Technically, that’s how you get the time of death – it’s all based on the moment when the heart stops,” explained Dr. Sam Parnia, co-author of a recent study of “life after death” by a team at the New York University Langone School of Medicine.
“Once [the heart stops] blood no longer circulates to the brain, which means brain function halts almost instantaneously,” Parnia continued. “You lose all your brain stem reflexes – your gag reflex, your pupil reflex, all that is gone.”

Why a NDE Can be Scientifically Verified
Since NDEs often happen in hospital settings with professional medical oversight, thousands of NDEs have been sufficiently well-documented for scientific study. This documentation often includes relevant information that can be verified by those present. Examples include actions that took place during resuscitation, conversations in the waiting room, or articles of clothing worn by family members.
How do We Know NDEs are Not Just a Physical Reaction of the Body?
Physical explanations of NDE’s claim that patients are really experiencing hallucinations resulting from stimulation/trauma of certain areas of the brain due to:
1. Lack of oxygen (anoxia)
2. Narcotics
3. Electrical surge to the brain
Are these physical explanations for near death experiences satisfactory? No.
The experiences (hallucinations) produced by these conditions do not correspond with the perceptions and experiences of those with NDEs. We will look at each of these conditions.
1) Anoxia Hypothesis - The explanation offered here is that the anoxia of a dying brain could lead to the firing of neurons responsible for visual perception – possibly leading to an experience of a white light at the end of a tunnel. If this were true, then 100% of patients should have an NDE or OBE under such conditions, but only 18% do. Further, oxygen deficiency usually results in chaotic hallucinatory experiences and is associated with confusion and memory loss. NDEs are completely unlike this. They are serene, structured, and well-integrated experiences. In theory, in NDEs people could have a very low level of brain activity which is not picked up by EEG machines. On the other hand, it seems very unlikely that such a low level of brain activity could produce such vivid and intense conscious experiences. If there was any conscious experience, it would surely be dim, vague, and confused. In NDEs, by contrast, people often report becoming more alert than normal, with a very clear and intense form of awareness.
2) Narcotically Induced - Researcher Karl Jansen conjectured that he could produce an NDE by ingesting small quantities of ketamine – a veterinary anesthetic. Though this did induce a sense of being out of body (OBE), the images in the hallucination were “weird” and perspectives were exaggerated. Again, “weird” perceptions are contrary to the lucid and accurate descriptions found by the studies of NDEs.
In other research with the psychedelic DMT, of the 16 items in the NDE scale used in the study, nine items showed a high degree of crossover. These included an ‘unearthly environment,’ a sense of peace, heightened senses, harmony/unity, altered time perception, feelings of joy, bright light, and so on. However, all nine of these characteristics are generally associated with spiritual or mystical experiences, rather than just NDEs. It is well known that NDEs have a strong spiritual or mystical element to them, which is partly why they have such a powerful life-changing effect. But NDEs are not just spiritual experiences. And significantly, the seven items in this study with the least crossover between NDEs and DMT were those which differentiate NDEs from standard spiritual experiences. For example, three of the most salient characteristics of NDEs are a feeling of reaching a ‘border/point of no return,’ ‘encountering deceased/religious spirits,’ and a life review. In this study, these were amongst the least reported in DMT experiences.
In view of this, there is no reason to jump to the conclusion that NDEs are associated with DMT. Other researchers—such as Rick Strassman—have suggested that NDEs may be caused by the release of DMT when a person is close to death or in the process of dying. However, there is no evidence that large amounts of DMT are released close to death. It is not even certain that DMT is produced in the human body (although it has been found in the pineal gland of rats).
3) Electrical Surge to the Brain - Several physicalist explanations of NDEs and OBEs fall in this category.
-Blanke (2003) and his team placed electrodes in the angular gyrus of the parietal lobe which triggered an “OBE-like” experience in a patient with epilepsy. However, Blanke’s stimulations produced abnormal bodily experiences and a false sense of reality (e.g. legs growing shorter and seeing body doubles), contrary to the experiences described in NDE’s.
-Michael Persinger claimed he could stimulate a NDE by using weak transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the temporal lobes. The states induced by this process, however, resemble the psychic states associated with epilepsy and, again, do not correspond to NDEs.
Other Problems with Physicalist Explanations
The patients described earlier had no electrical activity in the cerebral cortex (marked by a flat EEG) and virtually no electrical activity in the lower brain (fixed and dilated pupils and absence of gag reflex). This is not true for any of the patients mentioned in the physical explanations offered above.
Another major difference between NDEs and physically stimulated illusion (hereafter “PSI”) is that in each case the latter do not resemble the former.
-Blanke’s PSI gives rise to abnormal bodily experiences and a false sense of reality (instead of a clear and accurate perception of reality and one’s place in it).
-Whinnery’s PSI gives rise to a state of confusion and anxiousness in its aftermath (instead of clarity and lifelong positive transformation).
-Jansen’s narcotically induced hallucination gives rise to false and weird images and exaggerated perspectives (unlike NDEs).
-Persinger’s PSI gives rise to psychic states associated with epilepsy (which are quite distinct from those associated with near death experiences).
-The transformational aspect of NDEs is one of the strongest arguments against the idea that they are a brain-generated hallucination. Dreams and hallucinations do not generally have transformational after-effects. They are usually quickly forgotten, with a clear sense that they were delusional experiences, less authentic and reliable than ordinary consciousness. (In contrast, with NDEs there is a clear sense that the experience is more real and authentic than normal consciousness.)
The Parnia et al. study concludes that known physical explanations do not account for visual awareness, clarity of thought, and positive emotions associated with NDE’s.
The researchers from the New York University Langone School of Medicine concluded after an analysis of multiple reports that consciousness lingers long after doctors have declared their patients dead.
“They’ll describe watching doctors and nurses working and they’ll describe having awareness of full conversations, of visual things that were going on, that would otherwise not be known to them,” Parnia told Live Science.
In a 2012 paper in the Journal of Near-Death Studies, Dr. Michael Potts examined the similarities between NDEs and DMT and also concluded that salient features of NDEs are absent (such as traveling through a tunnel into a transcendent realm or the subsequent reporting of events witnessed during the experience). But most notably, in Potts’ view, DMT lacked the powerful transformative after-effects of NDEs. He concluded that in NDEs permanent change is the rule rather than the exception, whereas it is the exception rather than the rule with DMT.
Dr. Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon and professor at the University of Virginia Medical School, who underwent a severe coma from encephalitis (and was monitored throughout his comatose state) described it as follows:
"My synapses—the spaces between the neurons of the brain that support the electrochemical activity that makes the brain function — were not simply compromised during my experience. They were stopped.
Only isolated pockets of deep cortical neurons were still sputtering, but no broad networks capable of generating anything like what we call ‘consciousness’. The E. coli bacteria that flooded my brain during my illness made sure of that.
My doctors have told me that according to all the brain tests they were doing, there was no way that any of the functions including vision, hearing, emotion, memory, language, or logic could possibly have been intact."

TRANS-PHYSICAL COMPONENT OF NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE
In 1982, a Gallup survey indicated that approximately 8 million adults in the United States had had a near death experience (NDE). Those surveyed reported the following characteristics:
1. out of body experience
2. accurate visual perception (while out of body)
3. accurate auditory perception (while out of body)
4. feelings of peace and painlessness
5. light phenomena (encounter with loving white light)
6. life review
7. being in another world
8. encountering other beings
9. tunnel experience
10. precognition
A body in a state of clinical death is unable to have these experiences, which means that there must be some trans-physical aspect to the person to account for these occurrences. By trans-physical, we mean some incorporeal part of us that can exist independently of the body. This is supported by the evidence that a person can be capable of seeing and hearing without the biological organs associated with those functions.
According to the 2014 Parnia et al.- Southampton University Study, approximately 9% of adults have afterlife experiences after cardiac arrest (Von Lommel et al 2001 found that 18% had a NDE), and according to the International Association of Near Death Studies (that publishes the peer-reviewed Journal of Near Death Studies), approximately 85% of children have afterlife experiences.
This trans-physical component retains all its memories, and appears to have acute recall and memory functions (without use of the brain). It is aware of itself and its identity and its distinction from others – but it is more than self-consciousness.
Subjects of scientific studies have claimed that this trans-physical component is not limited by physical laws (such as gravity), or the restrictions imposed by physical mass (such as walls or roofs). It can be called into a spiritual or heavenly domain in which it can encounter spiritual beings like itself (in human form) as well as wholly transcendent beings greater than itself (such as a loving white light). It can also communicate with these beings without the use of voice and sounds. Though it has autonomy and self-identity, it does not have control over most dimensions of the out of body experience; for example, it is moved outside of its body, transported to a trans-physical domain, and called back into its body by some higher trans-physical power.
There is a powerful argument in favor of the idea that consciousness is fundamental to the universe rather than just produced by the human brain. As a result, there are some circumstances in which consciousness can continue independently of the brain.
VERIDICAL DATA
When these accounts have been verified to be 100% accurate, they are termed “veridical.” Virtually every peer-reviewed study reports multiple instances of such veridical data.
Dr. Bruce Greyson (Department of Psychiatric Medicine at the University of Virginia) also reported several instances of accurate veridical data reported by patients after clinical death. He notes:
"...[veridical reports concern] only descriptions of extremely low antecedent probability that have been cited, such as one woman’s accurate description of the plaid shoelaces on a nurse participating in her resuscitation (Ring and Lawrence, 1993), or one man’s accurate description of his cardiac surgeon during his open-heart surgery ‘‘flapping his arms as if trying to fly’’ (Cook, Greyson, and Stevenson, 1998, p. 399), hardly the type of behavior typically shown in media portrayals of open-heart surgery.
Both of these examples, incidentally, were corroborated by independent interviews with the doctors and nurses involved. In a specific test of ability of patients to imagine accurate resuscitation scenarios, Michael Sabom (1981, 1982) found NDErs’ “descriptions of their resuscitations to be highly accurate with specific veridical details, whereas those of resuscitated patients who did not report NDEs but were asked to imagine what their resuscitations must have looked like were vague and contained erroneous specifics."
The accuracy of veridical data from multiple studies was correlated by Dr. Janice Holden using the strictest criteria. She determined that the vast majority of veridical data was reported perfectly accurately – with only 8% having some inaccuracy. Dr. Holden made a compendium of 107 cases in thirty-nine studies by thirty-seven authors in 2007, in which veridical (verifiable) experiences were reported. She concluded as follows:
"Using the most stringent criterion – that a case would be classified as inaccurate if even one detail was found to not correspond to reality – Holden found that only 8 percent involved some inaccuracy. In contrast, 37 percent of the cases – almost five times as many – were determined to be accurate by an independent objective source, such as the investigation of researchers reporting the cases."
The other 55% did not involve inaccuracies, but could not be completely independently verified by other sources. Therefore, of the 48 cases (45% of Dr. Holden’s sample) qualifying as veridical (an unusual or unique report corroborated by an independent source), 8 cases (17%) had some inaccuracy while 40 cases (83%) were reported completely accurate (using the strictest criteria). It is difficult to believe that this degree of verifiably accurate reporting which occurred at a time when there was no electrical activity in the cortex can be attributed to a physical or physiological cause.
In view of this, as well as the fact that many of the reported incidents reached beyond bodily capabilities of the patient, it is not unreasonable to conclude that these perceptions (as well as the self-consciousness which accompanied them) existed independently of bodily function, and could therefore, persist after bodily death.
THREE TYPES OF SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE WHICH DETERMINE VERIFIABLE NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES:
1. Veridical reported data (all major longitudinal studies)
2. Visual perception of the blind during clinical death (Ring and van Lommel)
3. Personal information about deceased individuals (Greyson 2010, van Lommel 2010, Moody 1993, Cook et al 1998, and Kelly et al 2000)
Each of these kinds of scientific evidence (explained in more detail below) can be verified by independent researchers after the fact, and all of them are exceedingly difficult (if not impossible) to explain by merely physical or physiological theories (such as hallucinations, anoxia, narcotics, etc).
1) Reported Veridical Data - Frequently during NDEs, the trans-physical component leaves the body, but does not go immediately to an other-worldly domain. Instead, it remains in the resuscitation room or in close or remote proximity to the body.
This trans-physical component is self-conscious, can see, hear, and remember. Its memories can be recalled after patients return to their bodies.
Some of these reports have highly unusual or unique characteristics which are not part of ordinary resuscitation or hospital procedures. Many of these reports can be verified by independent researchers after patients return to their bodies.
Hallucinatory activity is qualitatively different from NDEs. Moreover, unlike NDEs, hallucinations are random, sporadic, and highly inaccurate.
2) Visual Perception of the Blind During Clinical Death - Ring, Cooper, and Tart (1999), and Van Lommel (2001) did focused studies on the NDEs of blind people. 80% of these patients (many of whom were blind from birth) were able to see during their NDE.
These accounts show that patients who do not have the physical capacity to see – report visual data accurately about their experiences during clinical death. Some of this data is veridical (highly unusual and therefore difficult to guess).
Given the insurmountable difficulties of explaining this phenomenon physically (hallucinations, narcotics, oxygen deprivation, etc), it corroborates the likelihood of trans-physical existence after clinical death. Furthermore, it shows the possibility of trans-physical causes not only of consciousness, but also of vision, hearing, and memory. No adequate physical explanation has been offered for the visual perception of blind people during clinical death.

3) Personal Information About Deceased Individuals - Many patients undergoing clinical death are moved from the physical world to an other-worldly or heavenly domain. Some of them see themselves crossing a border into a beautiful paradise in which many are greeted by deceased family members or friends, Jesus, or a loving white light.
Some patients may experience two or more of these phenomena. Some patients who are greeted by deceased family members do not recognize them because they died before the patient was born. They often introduce themselves and reveal facts about themselves that the patients’ relatives or friends are subsequently able to verify.
Though this kind of evidence is not veridical (because it can’t be corroborated as occurring during a patient’s clinical death by an independent source), it has probative circumstantial value – particularly because it occurs in so many different cases of near death experiences.
This has been studied by Dr. Jeffery Long and Dr. Pim van Lommel, all of whom show patients’ knowledge of facts about or from deceased family members and friends not formerly known.
Dr. Bruce Greyson has made a detailed study of these cases entitled: “Seeing Dead People Not Known to Have Died: Peak in Darien Experiences.” His colleague at the Division of Perceptual Studies (University of Virginia), Dr. Emily Kelly gives a careful report of their research in an article entitled “Near-Death Experiences with Reports of Meeting Deceased People.”
This article arose out of two previous studies (Cook, Greyson, & Stevenson, 1998; Kelly, Greyson, & Stevenson 2000 ). These researchers found that out of 553 cases of people reporting NDEs, 13% experienced a deceased relative or friend (a lower statistic than the 37% reported by Fenwick & Fenwick in 1995).
Most of these individuals reported seeing deceased relatives (and only 5% reported seeing deceased friends). Most of them were from a previous generation (parents or grandparents). Several individuals reported seeing a religious figure, usually Jesus, and several also reported seeing unrecognized figures along with relatives.
One of the more important findings among these studies was the large number of patients who reported seeing people with whom they were not close or even known. This finding militates against the hallucinatory expectation hypothesis – that dying individuals project an image of deceased loved ones who they would want to see in the afterlife. Kelly notes in this regard:
"Although most people identified were emotionally close relatives, there were nonetheless a substantial number (32%) of people seen who were emotionally neutral or distant or whom the participant had never met. Many participants commented that seeing these people was unexpected and a ‘surprise.’ The expectation hypothesis seems a bit strained when we try to account for these numerous instances in which the deceased person was not someone the participant would particularly care about seeing… Furthermore, even among those participants who did see a loved one, the person seen was not always one whom the participant would presumably most expect or want to see."
When this is combined with the disclosure of information not previously known from deceased people (Greyson 2010, van Lommel 2010, and Moody 1998), it suggests that clinically dead individuals encounter deceased people who are not a projection of wishful expectations. Though this kind of evidence is not as strong as veridical evidence, and the visual perception of blind people during clinical death, it provides another clue to a trans-physical ground for consciousness.


STUDY DETAILS
-The van Lommel et al Study on NDEs (Evidence of the Soul & Heaven from Near Death Experiences
Published in The Lancet (Britain’s most prestigious medical journal): the study surveyed 344 cardiac patients who were successfully resuscitated after cardiac arrest in ten Dutch hospitals. It compared demographic, medical, pharmacological, and psychological data between patients who reported NDEs and patients who did not after resuscitation. It studied life changes after NDEs, and compared the groups two and eight years later.
The study found that 62 adult patients (18%) resuscitated from cardiac arrest experienced a NDE with some of the characteristics described above. No patients reported distressing or frightening NDEs. The 18% positive response does not necessarily mean that the others did not have a NDE.
In fact, Parnia et al. believe that many of those who could not remember having a NDE may have been adversely affected by morphine or other medications administered during the resuscitation procedure.
There may be other mitigating factors such as age or prolonged CPR, and some may have been unwilling to recount it (for fear of being thought to be unbalanced). This percentage enabled the van Lommel researchers to conclude that the experiences associated with NDEs were not likely to have been caused by physiology alone:
"With a purely physiological explanation such as cerebral anoxia for the experience, most patients who have been clinically dead should report one."
The researchers concluded:
"Our most striking finding was that Near-Death Experiences do not have a physical or medical root. After all, 100 percent of the patients suffered a shortage of oxygen, 100 percent were given morphine-like medications, 100 percent were victims of severe stress, so those are plainly not the reasons why 18 percent had Near-Death Experiences and 82 percent didn’t. If they had been triggered by any one of those things, everyone would have had Near-Death Experiences."
Van Lommel’s rationale does not conclusively rule out a physiological explanation of NDEs, because there might be other physical factors beyond those mentioned in his study. However when that rationale is combined with the three kinds of verifiable evidence, it virtually rules out the possibility of a purely physiological explanation of NDEs, indicating the survival of human consciousness after clinical death.
Of the 62 patients reporting a NDE, all of them experienced some of the following ten characteristics, according to the following distribution:
1. Awareness of being dead (50%)
2. Positive emotions (56%)
3. Out of body experience (24%)
4. Moving through a tunnel (31%)
5. Communication with light (23%)
6. Observation of colors (23%)
7. Observation of a celestial landscape (29%)
8. Meeting with deceased persons (32%)
9. Life review (13%)
10. Presence of a border between one realm and another (8%)
This study also reported corroborative veridical out-of-body experiences. These experiences enabled patients to have sensorial knowledge which they were not able to have through their physical bodies. In other words, if these patients had not been in an “out-of-body” state, they would never have been able to experience the details they accurately reported.
The corroborated veridical sensorial knowledge by both sighted and blind patients is very significant because there does not appear to be any physical explanation for these corroborated phenomena, leading to the conclusion that there must be some form of nonphysical conscious existence (including self-consciousness, memory, intelligence, and self-identity). Dr. Pim van Lommel and his team conclude as follows:
"How could a clear consciousness outside one’s body be experienced at the moment that the brain no longer functions during a period of clinical death with flat EEG? ... Furthermore, blind people have described veridical perception during out-of-body experiences at the time of this experience. NDE pushes at the limits of medical ideas about the range of human consciousness and the mind-brain relation.
In our prospective study of patients that were clinically dead (flat EEG, showing no electrical activity in the cortex and loss of brain stem function evidenced by fixed dilated pupils and absence of the gag reflex) the patients report a clear consciousness, in which cognitive functioning, emotion, sense of identity, or memory from early childhood occurred, as well as perceptions from a position out and above their ‘dead’ body."
-Dr. Kenneth Ring’s Studies of the Blind - Ring, Cooper, and Tart (1999), also reported in Ring and Valarino (2006), focused their research on NDEs of the blind. Ring, Cooper, and Tart studied 31 blind patients (21 of whom had a near death experience and 10 of whom had out-of-body experiences only).
Of the 31, 14 were blind from birth and evidently had no past experience of seeing, and 17 had some experience of seeing in the past (though they were blind at the time of their near death experience or out-of-body experience). Ring summarizes his findings as follows:
"Among those narrating NDEs, not only did their experiences conform to the classic NDE pattern, but they did not even vary according to the specific sight status of our respondents; that is, whether a NDE-er was born blind or had lost his or her sight in later life, or even (as in a few of our cases) had some minimal light perception only, the NDEs described were much the same.
Furthermore, 80% of our thirty-one blind respondents claimed to be able to see during their NDEs or OBEs, and, like Vicki and Brad, often told us that they could see objects and persons in the physical world, as well as features of otherworldly settings."
The researchers also found that the quality of perception was quite high among the majority of blind patients who reported seeing during their NDE:
"How well do our respondents find they can see during these episodes? We have, of course, already noted that the visual perceptions of Vicki and Brad were extremely clear and detailed, especially when they found themselves in the otherworldly portion of their near-death journey. While not all of our blind NDErs had clear, articulated visual impressions, nevertheless enough of them did, so that we can conclude that cases like Vicki’s and Brad’s are quite representative in this regard."
This study is particularly important, because there is no physical explanation for the phenomenon described by it. The sight of these patients was completely impaired or almost completely impaired – in their physical bodies. Thus the only explanation for their sight would seem to be the capacity for visual perception in their trans-physical state.
-Consistency of NDE Data in Moody, Ring, and van Lommel - In 1978, Dr. Raymond Moody wrote his first study of NDEs entitled Life After Life. It was based on more than 100 case studies, but left several questions unanswered while revealing the need for a more sophisticated longitudinal study.
Between 1978 and 1988, he completed that study after interviewing more than 1,000 patients who had had a NDE. He noticed that patients having NDEs reported having one or more of the following characteristics (seven of which seem to be unique to NDEs):
1. A sense of being dead
2. Peace and painlessness
3. The tunnel experience
4. People of light
5. The Being of Light
6. The life review
7. Rising rapidly into the heavens
8. Reluctance to return
9. Out of body experiences/different time and place.
Moody’s findings closely correlate with Ring’s and van Lommel’s. Ring divides his study into five stages of NDEs, while van Lommel divides his findings into ten features of NDEs. Ring’s stages are as follows:
1. Peace (60%)
2. Bodily separation (37%)
3. Darkness/tunnel (23%)
4. Light/beings of light (16%)
5. Inner setting/paradise (10%)

Notice the correlation with van Lommel’s features:
1. Awareness of being dead: 50% — (not reported by Ring)
2. Positive emotions: 56% — (compared to Ring’s 60% for what he describes as “peace”)
3. Out of body experience: 24% — (compared with 37% in Ring’s study)
4. Moving through a tunnel: 31% — (compared with 23% in Ring’s study)
5. Communication with light: 23% — (compared with 16% in Ring’s study)
6. Observation of colors: 23% — (not reported by Ring)
7. Observation of a celestial landscape: 29% — (compared with 10% in Ring’s study)
8. Meeting with deceased persons: 32% — (not reported by Ring, but reported by Moody)
9. Life review: 13% — (not reported by Ring)
10. Presence of border: 8% — (not reported by Ring)
Evidently, the larger, more longitudinal study of Dutch patients experienced the tunnel, being/beings of light, and celestial landscapes more often than the smaller, less longitudinal, American group; while the American group experienced out-of-body survival more often. The differences in the data may be explained by the fact that most patients only experienced some of the above-mentioned features of NDEs.

-Near-death experience. Evidence for their reality. by Jeffrey P. Long, MD Missouri Medicine. 2014 Sep-Oct;111(5):372-80. ABSTRACT: Results from the largest near-death experience (NDE) study ever reported. Nine lines of evidence are presented for the reality of NDE. Article conclusion: “The combination of the preceding nine lines of evidence converges on the conclusion that near-death experiences are medically inexplicable. Any one or several of the nine lines of evidence would likely be reasonably convincing to many, but the combination of all of the presented nine lines of evidence provides powerful evidence that NDEs are, in a word, real.” Free PMC Article Available.
-Varieties of near-death experience. by Bruce Greyson Psychiatry. 1993 Nov;56(4):390-9. ABSTRACT: Near-death experiences are profound subjective events frequently reported by individuals who have come close to death. They are of importance to mental health professionals, not only because they often happen to patients under our care, but because they have been reported to produce widespread and long-lasting changes in values, beliefs, and behavior that dramatically affect the experiencers' attitudes toward living and dying (Bates and Stanley 1985; Bauer 1985; Flynn 1982; Greyson 1983b; Noyes 1980; Ring 1984). Several studies, including surveys of recently resuscitated hospitalized patients (Ring 1980; Sabom 1982) and a nationwide poll of the general population (Gallup and Proctor 1982) have estimated that near-death experiences are reported by 30%-40% of individuals who come close to death, or about 5% of the adult American population.
-Incidence and correlates of near-death experiences in a cardiac care unit. by Bruce Greyson Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2003 Jul-Aug;25(4):269-76. ABSTRACT: Near-death experiences, unusual experiences during a close brush with death, may precipitate pervasive attitudinal and behavior changes. The incidence and psychological correlates of such experiences, and their association with proximity to death, are unclear. We conducted a 30-month survey to identify near-death experiences in a tertiary care center cardiac inpatient service. In a consecutive sample of 1595 patients admitted to the cardiac inpatient service (mean age 63 years, 61% male), of whom 7% were admitted with cardiac arrest, patients who described near-death experiences were matched with comparison patients on diagnosis, gender, and age. Near-death experiences were reported by 10% of patients with cardiac arrest and 1% of other cardiac patients (P<.001). Near-death experiencers were younger than other patients (P=.001), were more likely to have lost consciousness (P<.001) and to report prior purportedly paranormal experiences (P=.009), and had greater approach-oriented death acceptance (P=.01). Near-death experiencers and comparison patients did not differ in sociodemographic variables, social support, quality of life, acceptance of their illness, cognitive function, capacity for physical activities, degree of cardiac dysfunction, objective proximity to death, or coronary prognosis.
-The divided self: near death experiences of resuscitated patients--a review of literature. by Cant R Int Emerg Nurs. 2012 Apr;20(2):88-93. doi: 10.1016/j.ienj.2011.05.005. Epub 2011 Aug 5. ABSTRACT: This paper explores the prevalence of 'near death experience' phenomena associated with a resuscitation event and examines the current state of evidence for causation. Patients' reports of unusual recollections associated with a period of unconsciousness (perceived as approaching death) have fascinated individuals and the medical fraternity. Near death experiences (NDE) are reported in 4-9% of general community members and up to 23% of critical illness patients, although they can occur in healthy individuals who may think they are in peril. One explanation is that paranormal visions that include seeing bright lights, a tunnel and having feelings of peace may be a stage of enlightenment as death approaches. More objective explanations point to neuro-chemical changes in a stressed or dying brain as explanation for nearly all the elements of near death experience. However if this is so, NDE should occur in all patients who are critically ill and near death. In general, patients report positive psychological outcomes after a near death experience. Nurses can support patients during a time of crisis by assisting them and their families to comprehend the experiential event using effective communication and listening skill.
-Near-Death-Like Experiences without Life-Threatening Conditions or Brain Disorders: A Hypothesis from a Case Report by Enrico Facco Front Psychol. 2012; 3: 490. Published online 2012 Nov 15. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00490 ABSTRACT: Near-death experiences (NDEs) are profound psychic experiences commonly occurring in life-threatening conditions. They include feeling a sense of peace, of seeing a bright light, encountering deceased relatives or religious figures, and of transcending space and time. To explain them, it has been suggested that they stem from brain disorders and/or psychological reactions to approaching death, a sort of wishful thinking in response to the perceived threat. This is a report on a case with most of the features typical of NDEs except that it occurred entirely without any life-threatening conditions. This evidence is theoretically incompatible with either of the above hypotheses, suggesting that a broader interpretation of the phenomenon is needed.
EXAMPLES
-In the Pim van Lommel study, one man who had been in a deep coma later told a nurse that he recognized her and saw where she had placed his dentures during resuscitation efforts – he even described the cart where she placed them. They were there, precisely as he described it.
-Melvin Morse and Kim Clark reported a woman who had knowledge of a shoe on a window ledge outside the hospital. The shoe was nowhere near the place she had been resuscitated, but was next to a third-floor office. Though the shoe could have been seen from a window after the woman’s resuscitation, she had described it with such detail that it must have been viewed up close. She noted that the shoe had a worn little toe, and the shoelace was tucked beneath the heel.
The psychologist (Kim Clark) who interviewed the woman had to crawl along the ledge outside to verify the claim. The shoe was indeed there precisely as the patient had described it. Clark concluded that: “The only way she [the patient] could have had such a perspective was if she had been floating right outside and at very close range to the tennis shoe. I retrieved the shoe and brought it back to Maria; it was very concrete evidence for me.”
-Raymond Moody also reports similar stories of veridical out-of-body experiences, including those who travel through walls to the waiting room where they see their relatives and friends.
1) One patient reported seeing her young daughter wearing mismatched plaids, which was highly unusual.
2) Another woman overheard her brother-in-law talking to a business associate in the hospital waiting room in a very derogatory manner, and was able to report this back to him later.
-Dr. Bruce Greyson (Department of Psychiatric Medicine at the Univ. of VA) reported:
1) One woman’s accurate description of the plaid shoelaces on a nurse participating in her resuscitation.
2) Another patient from Dr. Greyson’s study accurately described of his cardiac surgeon ‘‘flapping his arms as if trying to fly’’ during his open-heart surgery.
FAQs
Are there peer-reviewed medical studies on near death experiences?
Yes. There are 4 major studies detailed in this document: Dr. Sam Parnia (2014), Dr. Pim van Lommel (2001), Dr. Kenneth Ring (2006), and Dr. Janice Holden (2007).
Also the International Association for Near-death Studies (IANDS) encourages scientific research and education on the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual nature of near-death experiences. Its publications include the peer-reviewed Journal of Near-Death Studies and the quarterly newsletter Vital Signs.
At the University of Virginia, there is an entire department, the Division of Perceptual Studies, devoted to the scientific examination of phenomena that challenge accepted scientific assumptions. Dr. Bruce Greyson is the resident expert on NDEs.
What kinds of scientists study NDEs?
Modern research of NDEs involves neuroscientists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and other medical doctors.
How many people have had this experience?
World wide, tens of thousands of people report having NDEs and, in 1982, the Gallup Organization examined over 8 million reports of NDEs. (Not all of these cases were reported in 1982 but were on record.)
Is there evidence that near death experiences are real or describe a real event?
Many people don’t want to believe something unless it can be scientifically verified. While a NDE is a subjective experience, what we do know is that tens of thousands of people report having one, and similar characteristics are reported across the range of individual experiences. Additional evidence is the report of veridical data, and the fact that 80% of blind NDers report being able to see during their experience.
Are the only people who have NDEs very religious?
No. NDEs occur in people of different ages, religious backgrounds and cultures. Eben Alexander (mentioned above) was an atheist before his NDE.
Do near death experiences change a person’s life?
There are many reported spiritual/psychological changes and even physiological ones. Spiritual/psychological changes include a loss or decrease in a fear of death, an increase in generosity and charity, an increased desire for knowledge, the resolution of issues from childhood along with an increase in child-like wonder and joy. Physiological changes include different patterns of thought-processing, becoming more creative and inventive, increased light/sound sensitivity, changes in food preferences, lower blood pressure, increased metabolism, and the person may even become younger looking.
-Around eighty percent of the people who experienced near-death states claimed that their lives were forever changed by what happened to them.
-Experiencers were not returning with just a renewed zest for life and a more spiritual outlook. They were evidencing specific psychological and physiological differences on a scale never before faced by them. And this was true with child experiencers, as well as with teenagers and adults.
-The average near-death experiencer comes to regard him or herself as "an immortal soul currently resident within a material form so lessons can be learned while sojourning in the earthplane." They now know they are not their body; many go on to embrace the theory of reincarnation. Eventually, the present life, the present body, becomes important and special again.
-Altered thought-processing (switch from sequential/ selective thinking to clustered thinking: thoughts bunch together/ideas pop up), comfortable with ambiguity, heightened intelligence, more creative and inventive, unusual sensitivity to light and sound, substantially more or less energy (even energy surges in body, ofttimes more sexual), reversal of body clock, lower blood pressure, accelerated metabolic and substance absorption rates (decreased tolerance of pharmaceuticals and chemically treated products), often turn to alternative healthcare treatments, electrical sensitivity, synesthesia (multiple sensing), increased allergies or sensitivities, can possess ability to heal, a preference for more vegetables and grains (less of meat), physically younger looking (before and after photos can differ).
-Electrical sensitivity refers to a condition whereby the forcefield or energy around an individual affects nearby electrical equipment and technological devices. Usually sporadic in effect and impact, some experiencers have noticed: watches can stop, microphones "squeal," tape recorders quit, television channels change with no one at controls, light bulbs pop, telephone "drops off," computers suddenly lose memory, and so forth. Experiencers more at ease with their new traits report fewer of these incidents than those still in the process of making adjustments.
-Physical differences, along with attitudinal changes, eventually lead experiencers to alter their approach to health and healing, employment, finances, lifestyle and relationship issues. Many say that it's almost as if they have to relearn how to use their own body and brain. Once adjustments are made, the majority come to live healthy, productive lives that are happier, more spiritually-oriented and energetic than before. To deny or repress the aftereffects seems to leave individuals feeling somehow "incomplete," and can foster unwanted "breakthroughs" years later.
-Aftereffects cannot be faked. Nor can you hide your response to the way they affect you (whether you realize what you are doing or not). You may be able to delay their onset or lessen the impact they have, but you cannot pretend away the complex and life-altering potential they bring. Irrespective of any drama brought on by near-death states, what happens afterward is where true value and real meaning are established.
-NDEs are powerfully transformative experiences. After them, a person's values and attitude toward life are completely transformed. People often become less materialistic and more altruistic, less self-oriented and more compassionate. They often feel a new sense of purpose, and their relationships become more authentic and intimate. They report becoming more sensitive to beauty and more appreciative of everyday things. They also typically report a loss of the fear of death. It’s remarkable that one single experience can have such a profound, long-lasting, transformational effect. This is illustrated by research showing that people who have near-death experiences following suicide attempts very rarely attempt suicide again. This is in stark contrast to the normal pattern—in fact, a previous suicide attempt is usually the strongest predictor of actual suicide.

Sources (some as yet referenced but listed for my own organizational purposes)
https://magiscenter.com/nde/
https://magiscenter.com/credible-near-death-experience-stories/
https://www.inquisitr.com/4563741/consciousness-persists-after-death-scientists-confirm-people-who-have-died-know-they-are-dead/#ixzz6NNtnXsrs
https://iands.org/ndes/about-ndes/common-aftereffects.html
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/out-the-darkness/201810/near-death-experiences-and-dmt
https://www.nderf.org/ --> Near-Death Experience Research Foudation - has more than 4.700 documented cases.
https://www.near-death.com/afterlife-evidence.html
https://art-soulworks.com/pages/heaven-is-for-real-painting?fbclid=IwAR3ZU1kMfgj1tX8Cdb6ydTLNcjIRBK_oi4U7gqHPz2JXmTJ8ZBz3wjP5cZA

There is a really good book (to hell & back) by Cardiologist Maurice Rawlings from the 1980s. He operated on many patients, saving some and losing others, but one thing he did was to record some of these NDE experiences in their early days while it was still fresh in the patient's mind.

This Dr was an atheist, one of these incidents with a patient by the name of Charlie Mckaig pretty much forced him to start looking and searching for answers beyond his academic knowledge.

The testimony of this person is online and you can search it yourself but just to summarise it, as this atheist Dr was trying to save him by inserting a pacemaker wire into the large artery, this collapsed patient kept slipping in and out of consciousness.

When he came back to consciousness for a minute or so, he was petrified and would plead with the Dr. to save him from dying bcoz he was going into a horrible place that terrified him.

The Dr. being an atheist was getting frustrated by this experience bcoz not only he didn't believe what the patient is trying to tell him but he didn't know what to do or offer the patient as an answer or solution.

Luckily for the patient this Dr. remembered a very basic prayer taught in Sunday school for kids that basically asks God to forgive any wrongs you've done.
He told the patient to say or recite the words of that simple prayer and was amazed at the calm and peace that came over this patient. He survived and the operation was successful. This incident was the turning point for this atheist Cardiologist.

On the point of the brain playing part in these NDE incidents the Dr. doesn't agree as also with most of his colleagues.

http://ndevideos.com/charles-mckaig-mailman-goes-to-hell/?fbclid=IwAR2owBpvOWkpuTEwdzQd9x5WWYUgYcIM2ToMtlObzyByCUni4Ti_GPJ2MlE

Life — after life: Does consciousness continue after our brain dies?

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/life-after-life-does-consciousness-continue-after-our-brain-dies?fbclid=IwAR1W_Onk5QQ6AVLJVafoFriUHveJsjjwCRAyNn_UpLz3W6AUAtQLMb68puM

Parnia, now a critical care and resuscitation specialist at New York’s NYU Langone Medical Center, believes human consciousness may continue after our heart stops beating for some undetermined period of time.

Evidence from AWARE and other studies, he says, raises the possibility that the mind or consciousness — the psyche, the “self,” the thing that “makes me Sam” and that makes us uniquely who we are — may not originate in the brain and may be a separate, undiscovered scientific entity, similar in nature to the electromagnetic waves that can carry sound and pictures. Modern science simply lacks the tools to show it. When we die, that entity we call consciousness or the self doesn’t necessarily become “immediately annihilated,” Parnia believes.

Parnia isn’t a religious man. He insists he isn’t after proof of the existence of an afterlife, or a supernatural hereafter.

Getting Comfortable With Near Death Experiences: An Overview of Near-Death Experiences
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6179792/