So when these chemicals are released, these different type of phenomena can occur: a person might see a light, or experience a sense of peace or calming. Feel that they’re surrounded by loved ones. Such visions, although potentially comforting to the individual, are little more than tricks of the brain. Dr Wendy Wright, cited Huffington Post, ‘Four Theories on What Happens When We Die'
We see that image of divinity which is most meaningful to us. Obediah Harris, Philosophical Research Society
Well, I was just sick. All of a sudden there was white lights or white clouds type thingies around me. And I saw my grandma and she was just sitting in this wooden chair. And she was smiling. And she didn’t say anything. But she looked happy. When I think about it, it gives me a warm feeling inside. Jessie Lott, televised interview
In Heaven it’s bright like that, and it’s so bright that the sun was shining on it. And there’s never any dark. I saw my mom. And I saw the man; the man told me to go back. And my mom said she loved me. And that’s all I can remember. Ashley, childhood coma, cited Unexplained Mysteries
And as I moved in the tunnel I suddenly came into this bright white light. And once I entered the light it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever experienced. It was just wonderful. I was able to have knowledge of everything. Why we’re here; why we exist. It’s by far the most incredible experience of my life. Bill Vandenbush, hit by shrapnel Vietnam War, televised interview
I was walking up this path and I saw this light and I realised that there was a presence there. And this presence was warm and it was all loving. All forgiving. And to walk into that presence is indescribable. No feelings that we have here can match that feeling. Doris Jackson, near death of dysentery in India, televised interview
But for Howard Storm it was very different. His near-death experience took him straight to the depths of hell. Unsolved Mysteries
He [The Reverend Howard Storm] described a very horrifying experience of going through a tunnel and these little demon-like creatures were coming at him and ripping off pieces of his skin until they had really torn away all the skin from his body. Dr James Linne, televised interview; Storm was former Art professor
Often people see their dead relatives during a near death experience. Unexplained Mysteries
It was a loss of all peripheral vision. If you can imagine losing everything except a small area in front of you. Bob McConnell, televised interview
I found myself in this tunnel, with a very bright light at the end of it, and I was walking towards it. At the end of the tunnel when I arrived there there was a bridge; at the far end there was human shapes, shadows, then I said, I’m coming across ... You can’t cross the bridge; it’s not your time yet. Ron Bell, televised interview
Many people who come back from the brink of death tell a similar tale. Some are convinced their experiences prove the Soul exists; sceptics disagree. Conspiracy Test: Near-Death Experiences s/a Best Evidence: Near Death Experiences
Some had an out-of-body experience. Others saw deities or figures central to their faith. And some talked to long dead relatives. Many experienced a powerful spiritual feeling that has transformed their lives. But the key question remains unanswered: do near-death experiences prove that our Spirit or Soul live on after our bodies have died? ibid.
People who have gone through near-death experiences often retain a strong conviction that they felt their soul leaving their body. Although the detail of such experiences vary there are common threads: many feel they are being transported from their bodies, guided by a divine Being. Nearly all report seeing a tunnel of light. And feeling a sense of total love and serenity. But are these feelings and visions coming from the Soul? ibid.
But do the recalled sensations of seeing a tunnel of light, feeling a divine presence, talking with other spirits or even God, prove that human consciousness survives spiritual death? ibid.
In 1911 researchers at the University of Pennsylvania tried to capture images of the soul using the newly invented X-Ray machine. Four years earlier a doctor from Massachusetts declared that he had proved the existence of the soul with a scale – he claimed his subjects lost a small amount of weight at the instance of death. The legend that the human soul weighs twenty-one grams was born. ibid.
One theory is that the near-death experience is simply a function of hypoxia condition when the brain is starved of oxygen. Strange But True?
Intriguingly stories from the Tibetan Book of the Dead seem to match the modern descriptions of those pronounced clinically dead on the operating table – so-called Near Death Experiences. Decoding the Past s3e4: Tibetan Book of the Dead, History 2007
The journey ends as it began. With a long trip down a dark tunnel towards a glowing light. Only this tunnel is the womb. And the brightness is the first light seen when a new-born baby opens its eyes. It is the end of one stage, or Bardo, and the beginning of the Bardo called Life. ibid.
Oh nobly born, that which is called Death has now come. Now thou art experiencing the radiance of the light of pure reality. Tibetan Book of the Dead
Oh nobly born, do not be enticed by the soft light of the gods. It is an obstacle to liberation. ibid.
What happens when we die? Some people say they’ve seen the other side. Is death the end? Or there is something more? Paranatural: Life After Life, National Geographic 2013
Eventually life runs out. ibid.
Dr Alexander’s Near Death Experience is far darker than most. ibid.
The patient’s monitor shows a surge in brain activity. ibid.
Life after death defies current scientific thinking. Real or not, near death experiences have real-world effect. ibid.
Today is a good day to die. Flatliners 1990 starring Keifer Sutherland & Julia Roberts & William Baldwin & Oliver Plant & Kevin Bacon & Kimberley Scott & Joshua Rudoy & Benjamin Mouton & Hope Davis & Patricia Belcher & Beth Grant et al, director Joel Schumacher, Nelson
I was legally dead for four and a half minutes. But I didn’t see no tunnel and I didn‘t see no light. I was in this garden. ibid. bloke
Hey, I don’t want to die. I want to come back with the answers to death. And life. I can get there with the others. But I need you. I need you to bring me back. ibid. Nelson
No ... I did not come to medical school to murder my classmates no matter how deranged they might be. ibid. bloke
But there is something out there. It’s comforting. ibid. Nelson
People from different cultures and religions all seeing the same things in the same order. ibid.
As if we were already dead. And had nothing to lose by dying. ibid. conspirator
This is a very neat demonstration of an idea that’s been around for a long time: that under certain unfamiliar and confusing circumstances – like near-death – the brain becomes over-stimulated and hyper-excited ... One limitation is that we do not know when, in time, the near-death experience really occurs. Perhaps it was before patients had anaesthesia, or at some safe point during an operation long before cardiac arrest ... However, for those instances where experiences may occur around the time of cardiac arrest – or beyond it – these new findings provide further meat to the bones of the idea that the brain drives these fascinating and striking experiences. Dr Jason Braithwaite, University of Birmingham
Near-death experience has been reported by a cross-section of nearly every population and must therefore constitute an inherent part of the human condition. As with all other cross-cultural behaviors, this would suggest that the near-death experience ... most likely represents the consequence of a genetically-inherited trait, a biologically-based response to specific stimuli. Though near-death experiences are conventionally interpreted from a spiritual perspective – the consequence of a brief encounter with the afterworld – I assert that, like all other spiritually-conceived experiences, these, too, are strictly neuro-physiological in nature. Matthew Alper, The God Part of the Brain: A Scientific Interpretation of Human Spirituality and God
However, the deepest problem with drawing sweeping conclusions from the NDE is that those who have had one and subsequently talked about it did not actually die. In fact, many appear to have been in no real danger of dying. And those who have reported leaving their bodies during a true medical emergency – after cardiac arrest, for instance – did not suffer the complete loss of brain activity. Even in cases where the brain is alleged to have shut down, its activity must return if the subject is to survive and describe the experience. In such cases, there is generally no way to establish that the NDE occurred while the brain was offline. Sam Harris