Evidence of an afterlife: Long excerpt #2

Radiation oncologist Jeffrey Long writes in Evidence for Survival of Consciousness in Near-Death Experiences: Decades of Science and New Insights - "For this article, the term near-death experience will refer to lucid, organized experiences occurring at the time of a life-threatening event so severe that there is unconsciousness or clinically apparent death with an absent heartbeat. This is a relatively rigorous concept of NDE, but appropriate to distinguish NDEs from non-NDEs. This concept of NDE is entirely consistent with the definition of near-death experience from Webster’s dictionary:

An occurrence in which a person comes very close to dying and has memories of a spiritual experience (such as meeting dead friends and family members or seeing a white light) during the time when death was near.

 

"By the very dictionary definition of unconscious, it should not be possible to have a lucid and organized memory while unconscious. And yet, thousands of near-death experiencers (NDErs) report NDEs with characteristic elements, which is what occurs during the NDEs. While no two NDEs are the same, my prior research found 12 elements that may occur during NDEs. When these elements are present in NDEs, they usually happen in consistent and logical order. These NDE elements are consistently observed in NDEs worldwide, in all age groups, and regardless of their belief systems. The consistent and ordered presence of the elements in NDEs helps us to be confident of the reality of NDEs.

"The 12 elements of near-death experiences are:

    1. An out-of-body experience (OBE).
    2. Heightened senses.
    3. Intense and generally positive emotions or feelings.
    4. Passing into or through a tunnel.
    5. Encountering a mystical or brilliant light.
    6. Encountering deceased relatives/friends or mystical beings.
    7. A sense of alteration in time or space.
    8. A life review.
    9. Encountering otherworldly (heavenly) realms.
    10. Encountering or learning special knowledge.
    11. Encountering a boundary or barrier.
    12. A voluntary or involuntary return to the body.

"Near-death experiences are not rare. Surveys in the United States, Germany, and Australia estimated that about 4 to 15% of the population previously had NDEs. Thus thousands of NDEs have been available for research in the past, and thousands of NDEs should be available for future investigations. Studying large numbers of NDEs gives us greater confidence in the results of the studies than would be possible from investigating small numbers of NDEs or only anecdotal reports."

Jeffrey Long, MD, "Evidence for Survival of Consciousness in Near-Death Experiences: Decades of Science and New Insights." In the next several posts I will share excerpts from Long's 2021 article. Footnotes have been deleted. The complete text is available as a pdf at https://www.nderf.org.