Roughly 400 million people worldwide have experienced an NDE. Millions more people have experienced an SDE or an ADC. When the same experience is considered collectively across millions of people, it can be regarded as a common, objective reality.
The evidence that we presented in these phenomena is both (a) veridical, that is, based on credible accurate, verified observations or information, and (b) objective, that is, based on corroboration by credible independent witnesses. Therefore, the facts we have derived in our key lines of evidence are credible, real, and objective.
In addition, we included sections to address skeptical arguments or alternative explanations for these phenomena (a) to present a plausible model and mechanism that explains how these phenomena can occur, and (b) to show how various philosophical counterarguments and alternative explanations fail.
All this evidence must be considered as a whole. Together, it forms a complete coherent picture. The ten key lines of evidence
A person’s mind or consciousness can separate from and operate independent of the physical body. We presented strong evidence that in many NDEs, the NDEr reports accurate, verified perceptions of the physical realm beyond the reach of the physical senses or while the brain was incapacitated, demonstrating that the NDEr’s mind or consciousness has somehow separated from and operates independent of the body.
The separate mind embodies all of the person’s cognitive functions; it is the essence of the person. We presented strong evidence that the NDEr’s mind acts as a cohesive unit, embodying all cognitive faculties, and carrying the essence of the person. The NDEr realizes that their physical body is not their real self.
The separate mind itself is an objectively real thing, a real being. We presented strong evidence that the mind entity itself is objectively real—the mind entity can be seen by other people, by animals, and by other NDErs. The separate mind entity objectively exists.
The mind entity hypothesis is a plausible picture of the human being. We presented the mind entity hypothesis. We proposed that the human being consists of a nonmaterial “mind” integrated with the physical body. The mind ordinarily interacts and works with the brain to support consciousness, but can separate from and function independent of the brain. The mind entity hypothesis is plausible given the evidence in the previous items 1–3.
There is a plausible mechanism for two-way causal interactions between the nonmaterial mind and the brain. We proposed a mechanism for causal interactions between the mind and the brain based on (a) NDEr reports of an interactive force of resistance when the NDEr moves through solid matter, and (b) NDEr reports of interactions with another person’s physical body that appear to enable both the sensing and triggering of neural activity.
The mind entity theory addresses the main philosophical objections to dualism. In the mind entity theory, the mind merges with the physical brain and exerts direct causal interaction with it at specific points of contact, thus addressing the “causal pairing problem” and the “causal closure of the physical.”
Various psychological and physiological explanations for NDEs fail. Unlike the mind entity theory, various alternative explanations fail because they do not give a comprehensive explanation of all aspects of all NDEs. Some explanations apply ad hoc hypotheses to address specific aspects of specific cases but fail when applied as a general coherent explanation of NDEs. In addition, many NDEs occur in non-life-threatening circumstances, in healthy individuals, indicating that there must be some unifying factor, that is, some immediate cause that applies in all NDEs, rather than a specific psychological or physiological precipitating factor. We proposed the common immediate cause of NDEs is in fact the separation of the mind entity from the physical body.
Encounters with deceased persons during an NDE indicate that the mind of the deceased person continues after physical death. In these cases, the deceased person communicated accurate veridical information that the NDEr could not have obtained by any other means, which provides strong evidence that the encounters were real encounters with real human beings who once lived on Earth. Veridical communications with someone who has already died is evidence implicitly for personal survival of physical death.
Shared death experiences (SDEs) are strong objective evidence that the deceased person’s conscious Self continues to exist after physical death. In some SDE cases, the experiencer (SDEr) witnesses the process the dying person goes through in making the transition out-of-body, which has elements similar to NDEs. The SDEr can later verify the details seen in the dying person’s life review. Two or more SDErs in attendance at the person’s death may observe and corroborate the same SDE events, so the events are objective facts. The SDEr observes that the process of dying is identical to the process in an NDE, except that the dying person’s mind does not return to the physical body but continues to exist after physical death in a different realm.
After-death communications (ADCs) also provide strong objective evidence that the deceased person continues to exist after physical death. In ADCs, a deceased loved one communicates with the “witness” who may sense the presence of and hear the loved one, or directly see and converse with them. The loved one frequently appears completely solid, in their full form, and the encounter seems more real than everyday reality, including in some cases physical interactions. The loved one may provide veridical information which is later confirmed to be accurate. Shared ADCs, that is, encounters in which two or more people together witness the loved one, provide objective corroboration of the event. Thus, ADCs provide strong objective evidence that the deceased person continues to exist after physical death.
The evidence from shared death experiences (SDEs) demonstrates that in the process of physical death, as witnessed by SDErs, the dying person’s mind entity separates from the physical body and transitions to a different realm.
The evidence of meeting deceased persons in NDEs, SDEs, and in after-death communications (ADCs) demonstrates that the deceased persons are objectively real because they are observed at times simultaneously by multiple witnesses and at times provide veridical information previously unknown to the witness. Credible veridical communication with someone who has already died is evidence implicitly for personal survival of physical death.
Conclusion: Based on the evidence from these phenomena, taken as a whole, a person’s essential Self or mind at death separates from the physical body, transitions to a different realm, and survives the death of the physical body.
Robert G. Mays, BSc and Suzanne B. Mays, AA, “There is no death: Near-death experience evidence for survival after permanent bodily death.” An essay written for the 2021 Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies addressing the question: “What Is The Best Available Evidence For The Survival Of Human Consciousness After Permanent Bodily Death?” Footnotes are omitted from these excerpts.
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