“But the major question still remains unanswered. How is it that this coherent, highly structured experience sometimes occurs during unconsciousness, when it is impossible to postulate an organized sequence of events in a disordered brain? One is forced to the conclusion that either science is missing a fundamental link which would explain this, or organized experiences can arise in a disorganized brain, or that some forms of experience are transpersonal—that is, they depend on a mind which is not inextricably bound up with a brain.
“This is a story that was told to me by the niece of an old lady who was an old family friend. Some years ago the old lady lay peacefully dying, at home, in her own bed. Her niece, who was looking after her, was sleeping in a room just along the corridor. She left the doors of both rooms open so that she could easily hear her aunt if she called. During the night the niece woke and saw light outside her door. Thinking that a light had been left switched on, she got out of bed and saw that the light was streaming from the door of her aunt’s room. As she entered the room she saw that the light was surrounding her aunt. As she watched, the light slowly faded and her aunt died.
"When I was told this story it reminded me of a letter I had received from a mother who was at the hospital bed of her dying child. She too had described seeing a light full of pure love shining from and surrounding her child as he finally died. Now, one has to think very differently about a light, which can be seen only by the dying person and one, which seems to emanate from them, which others can see.
“These accounts seem to show that the NDE may not be just a private experience, but part of a common world that we can all experience,” Fenwick suggests. Also, “These experiences could suggest a different reality and a different model of the universe; one in which there is an interconnectedness between people both before and after death. But unless mind and brain are separate it is difficult to see how this can be.
“If we accept the subjective experience of the people who gave these accounts, then we have to accept that what happens to the dying person can in some way affect those around them; that the NDE can sometimes be a shared experience rather than just a personal one. One mind seems to be affecting another mind directly—and this is not something that is built into or can be accounted for by any of the scientific theories we’ve looked at so far. We have to look for some quite different theory of mind.
“We’ve been assuming that everything is created within the brain. An alternative view is that everything is transmitted through the brain. William James was one of the strongest exponents of the transmission theory. He described in his book Human Immortality (1898) the idea that beyond the ‘veil of reality’ in this world, and particularly beyond the brain, there is a transcendent reality in which the soul may live. He argued that it is the brain, which transmits and modifies the beam of consciousness.
“We have seen that the NDE is both timeless and independent of death; that it seems to be part of the spectrum of normal human experience. For many people the NDE is a profound spiritual experience. It makes them value life without clinging to it, appreciate each day as though it was their last."
Peter Fenwick and Elizabeth Fenwick, The Truth in the Light: An investigation of Over 300 Near-Death Experiences (Berkeley Books, 1997).
The Art of Dying (2008) by Peter and Elizabeth Fenwick “looks at how other cultures have dealt with death and the dying process (The Tibetan ‘death system,’ Swedenborg, etc.). They compare these practices with phenomena reported through recent scientific research. The book also describes the experiences of health care workers involved with end of life issues who feel that they need a better understanding of the dying process, and more training in how to help their patients die well by overcoming the common barriers to a good death—such as unfinished business and unresolved emotions of guilt or hate.”
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Dying-Peter-Fenwick/dp/0826499236/.
The first 41 minutes of this excellent and very informative video has an update on Fenwick’s research and reflections as of August 24, 2014. Fenwick describes the dying process and its similarities with NDEs. He draws on and affirms end of life experiences (ELEs) and describes the transition during dying, from our ordinary consciousness of experiencing the duality of subject and objects to a non-duality experience of consciousness that characterizes NDEs as well as dying.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1XK68tMm7Y
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