We are part of the mystery we are trying to solve

An astrophysicist, a writer of science books for all ages, as well as a musician, David Darling is even more a part of All that is . . . and, he tells us with delight, so are we. Furthermore, he considers what we can learn from NDEs, which has been central to my quest and my thinking over the past several years. So, Darling’s reflections offer an eloquent and challenging conclusion to the thoughts that are shaping who “I am” at the ending of my life.

For Darling, the NDE “poses an enormous problem for the materialist” point of view, because it involves “an extraordinary deepening and broadening of consciousness as ordinary life comes to an end. Coupled with this increase in overall consciousness is a progressive lessening of self-awareness. As the experience unfolds, the subjects, it seems, become more and more conscious of everything except themselves.

“This is the core enigma of the NDE. Why should it be that as the brain dies, consciousness expands? And why should it be that as consciousness expands, self-consciousness disappears?

“Whatever may lie behind the NDE―whether it is evidence of life after death or a mere artifact of the dying brain―makes no difference in one important respect. The NDE is life-transforming. For a while, at least, other worlds appear on an equal footing with our own―as real as the familiar reality we thought unique. The body is seen to be of little consequence, and for some who go through the process all sense of being an individual is lost. Indeed, the NDE reveals something quite astonishing about the human condition. It affords a disturbing peek into the artificial nature of self and the world: neither can seem so substantial again.

“Take stars, for instance. They grow as they form. They ingest whatever falls onto their surface. They excrete stellar winds and flares. They even reproduce in the sense that the stuff of which they’re made is recycled into new stars. So, why isn’t a star alive? Perhaps it is. If we all agreed tomorrow that stars were alive they would be alive. ‘Life’ is our invention, so we can do with it as we please. We only have to make changes in our worldview by global consent for living stars to become part of our invented reality.

“What to us seem like certain facts are merely agreements between ourselves within a framework of interpretation. Change, impermanence and undividedness are the true qualities of the universe.

“On the face of it, a microbe’s ‘consciousness’ isn’t much. At best it seems to encompass a low sensitivity and inclination to react to what happens in the environment. But doesn’t an electron also ‘sense’ and ‘react’ when struck by another particle? Couldn’t we therefore say that an electron―one of the smallest particles in nature―was also vaguely conscious? And if so, doesn’t this imply that every single bit of the universe is somehow aware?

“A very different picture of reality begins to emerge, then, as we challenge some of the categorizations of orthodox science. In fact there is a deeper truth beyond science, beyond any form of rationalization, that has been known to the human race for a very long time. It is an intuitive, direct form of knowledge and not one that can or needs to be proved. As Max Planck said: ‘Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery in Nature. And it is because in the last analysis we ourselves are part of the mystery we are trying to solve.’”

David J. Darling, Soul Search: A Scientist Explores the Afterlife (Villard, 1995), 66-73.