Pediatric patients: Kerr excerpt #5

Dr. Christopher Kerr writes: The study of end-of-life dreams and visions typically focuses on adults; however, children with terminal diagnoses also have these experiences, further demonstrating that this is an occurrence related to the transition to death and not to age or physical decline.

Our third publication was a pediatric case series*. Although children and adolescents process the experience of illness and impending death in ways that are distinct from adults, they still contend with existential and spiritual concerns no matter how difficult these may be for them to express. When facing serious illness, children are often confronted with an unimaginable reality for which both context and language are limited. As they struggle with illness, they also must cope with fears around death, including existential questions that are challenging to communicate and equally difficult for clinicians to answer. We have been fortunate to be able to film several of these children.

The study of end-of-life dreams and visions typically focuses on adults; however, children with terminal diagnoses also have these experiences, further demonstrating that this is an occurrence related to the transition to death and not to age or physical decline.

 

In several pediatric cases, the children’s ELDVs didn’t deny their impending death but informed and transcended the inevitable. In all cases recorded, their ELDVs provided comfort and meaning. For example, Ginny was a 15-year-old girl whose dreams and visions heavily impacted her dying process and her mother Michele’s bereavement experience (Link to Ginny and Michelle Interview Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hykQVBYDmsM).  

 

With exceptional detail, Ginny recounts a dream in which she is playing dolls and singing songs with her deceased aunt. She describes being in a beautiful castle filled with warmth and light. Adorning one of the walls is a stained-glass window depicting ‘‘a baby and you can see the sun through it.’’ In her own words, Ginny describes the castle as a “safe place” and emphasizes that she is “not alone.” In addition to her aunt, the castle is also populated with numerous pre-deceased family pets that now appear alive, healthy, and playful. 

 Upon waking from sleep, Ginny found immediate meaning in her ELDV experience, telling her mother, ‘‘I’m going to be okay, I’m not alone.’’ Four days before her death, on what had been a quiet afternoon, Michele heard an animated conversation through a baby monitor that was kept beside Ginny’s bed. When Michele asked Ginny whom she was talking to, Ginny responded, ‘‘I was talking to God.’’ She added ‘‘He’s old, but he’s kinda cute.’’ 

 

She said to her mother, ‘‘I’m not going to be sick; you know. where I’m going. You know, to the castle.’’ Ginny’s conversation with God also addressed her concern as to whether her family would be able to join her when their time came.

 

*Levy, K, Grant, PC, Kerr, CW, End-of-Life Dreams and Visions in Terminal Children/Adolescents: A Case Study. J Pall Med. 2020; 23(11);1549-1552.

Christopher Kerr, “Experiences of the Dying: Evidence of Survival of Human Consciousness,” an essay written for the 2021 Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies in response to the question: “What is the best evidence for survival of consciousness after bodily death?” Dr. Kerr, MD, PhD, is the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Executive Officer for Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo. The full text with notes is available at https://bigelowinstitute.org/contest_winners3.php.

 

Near-death experiences: Mishlove excerpt #4

Psychologist Jeffrey Mishlove writes in “Beyond the Brain: The Survival of Human Consciousness After Permanent Bodily Death,” that researchers have collected thousands of near-death experience reports. Undoubtedly, millions of individuals have had such experiences involving characteristics varying only slightly from culture to culture.

Almost all these people report being convinced to a certainty that consciousness survives death. The obvious criticism of these experiences as evidence for postmortem survival is, since experiencers inevitably return to their body, they were never dead. So, their experience can’t be about actual death. A more realistic interpretation is their experiences reflect the postmortem state’s early stages.

The consciousness realms described in near- death reports are detailed. They typically claim the afterlife is more real than waking physical reality.

Neuro-surgeon Eben Alexander, author of several books about his own near-death experience, offers his personal recollection of the supersensible reality where he believes our physical four- dimensional spacetime is embedded. It included “colors beyond the rainbow,” and swooping golden orbs of light, sparkling golden trails. Chants, anthems and hymns would thunder through his awareness. As a pure awareness speck “on a butterfly,” he didn’t merely witness this reality. He became one with it, therefore “you can essentially see through everything.”

One fascinating feature included in many near-death reports is the life review. These events suggest a realm where time is compressed compared to physical time and where the boundaries between individual minds are permeable. Alexander explains, we become one with the scenes and objects of the experience in the near-death state. He calls that “knowledge through identification.” One can, therefore, realize many things simultaneously. Earth time isn’t fundamental. There is a deeper time structure taking “soul growth” into account. He adds that language limits our ability to understand these experiences.

One singularly important piece of evidence associated with the near-death state is Alexander’s complete cerebral cortex regeneration. Bruce Greyson, a physician who has been researching near-death experiences for nearly a half-century, examined Alexander’s medical records, over 600 pages, with two other physicians. Puss from a rare infection filled Alexander’s cranium. His Glasgow Coma Scale result indicated minimal brain function. The three physicians all agreed there was less than a one percent chance of survival and no possibility of a normal recovery. In Greyson words, “This guy was as dead as you can be without having his heart stop.”

When Mishlove asked Alexander how he accounted for his miraculous recovery, Alexander suggested he had accessed a part of himself, beyond the ego, having enormous healing power. He referred to it as the “light body” or the “higher self.”  Other unexpected recoveries from conditions thought to be irreversible have occurred in connection with near-death experiences. These have been well-documented and monitored by medical doctors.

Pim van Lommel, a Dutch cardiologist and author of Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of Near-Death Experience, describes controlled studies involving patients who experienced cardiac arrest in hospitals. Five independent studies have been published involving 562 patients who survived cardiac arrest. Between 10% and 20% reported having a near-death experience. Van Lommel reports that neither physiological nor psychological factors can account for their experience.

We know, during cardiac arrest, there is no brain function left. So, we would expect no conscious experience at all during cardiac arrest.

Also, van Lommel explains how foreknowledge is a feature found in near-death reports. He describes the experience as akin to déjà vu – as, perhaps ten years later, individuals will recognize an experience as one they foresaw during their near-death experience.

An essential feature of many near-death states, to which van Lommel alluded above, is feeling overwhelmingly powerful love. Van Lommel also interviewed patients reporting a life review as part of their near-death experiences. He says people claim to relive every thought they have ever had combined with an intimate knowledge how one’s behavior affects others. Ultimately, the lessons people derive from their life reviews are about becoming more open and loving. The experience inspires people to change their lives.

 

Jeffrey Mishlove’s essay, “Beyond the Brain: The Survival of Human Consciousness After Permanent Bodily Death,” received first prize in the 2021 Bigelow Institute’s challenge to provide proof for the survival of human consciousness after death. Footnotes in Mishlove’s essay and videos he refers have been removed in this presentation but are available in his essay, which may be downloaded at https://bigelowinstitute.org/contest_winners3.php. Mishlove is a licensed clinical psychologist, author, and host on YouTube of “New Thinking Allowed.”

"It was as if my spirit had returned."

I have a memory/vision of viewing my unconscious crumpled body on the ground from ~15-20 feet above. I recall no sound; I was just floating above observing the scene. Everything was very still and silent. No one else was present, not my friend, our horses, or the helicopter and EMTs who came to get me. It was just me in my jeans and pink shirt, laying on my left side crumbled and unconscious. A second memory, later in the day I suspect, of observing myself from above on a gurney in a hospital hallway with warm golden or orange lights or walls near a nursing station and later in CT. I’m sure plenty of people were there but I saw none other than my lifeless body. Both memories are very quiet and serene, I was just floating and observing. It was sad, frightening and peaceful. I was just watching myself or, my body, so still and lifeless. It was if I was given a choice or pondering as to whether to return or move on. Or just put there to observe myself.

I was in a coma for 10 days and woke to hearing loss and brain troubles. My life which had been at its peak, finally, just before the accident crumbled and I became withdrawn, angry, erratic and struggled in school, with self-esteem and in friendships. I went from being voted 'friendlies' and 'cutest couple' in my senior class to becoming a social pariah. I struggled with anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem since then.

25 years later (a year ago now), 6 months into recognizing and working on my PTSD and exactly 25 years after the accident, on a beautiful walk in my current state of Massachusetts I found myself on a beautiful street with lovely little old (at least 100 years) houses near my home that I’d never seen before. I felt so comforted and cozy there, as if I was meant to be or live there. The feeling was so comforting and spiritual, unlike anything I’d even felt. Then, a few minutes later on another more familiar street, I felt a sudden rush of joy and exhilaration hit my chest. It was if my spirit had returned. I suddenly felt strong, confident, and happy as my 17-year-old self had felt prior to the accident and all the turmoil it has caused in my life.

Maybe a few weeks or days after that walk, on another walk in a nearby beautiful cemetery on a cloudy afternoon, a sudden spot of focal golden light on a gravestone caught my eye. I retraced my steps and the grave, ~100 years old and one I’d never seen before, was that of a woman with my same name and last initial, Carrie B. She had died young; I think in her 20’s or 30’s. As I retraced my steps to confirm what I’d seen, ravens in the trees above started cawing and rustling leaves and I realized that was identical to the fall day in Missouri exactly 25 years ago when ravens spooked my horse on the trail minutes (seconds?) before my accident. I got the same feeling with being connected to my true self/ spirit as i had the week before on my walk. My whole body was humming, thrilled and comforted. I could not look away.

Can a spirit leave the body and not fully return for 25 years? Since then, I have felt more myself (unlike I’ve felt in 25 years) and the circumstances of my life (I’m finally engaged in living and pursuing my dreams again) have improved immensely.  

NDERF.org 9307

In coma after fall through iced river but revives

My grandfather owned an old inn on the Ottawa River. My mother was 5 months pregnant at the time and sent me and my 4-year-old brother out to play in the snow. It was March and the snow was starting to melt but the river was still frozen over. She told us not to go down to the river. It's a very big yard so there was plenty of room to play and I believe she believed that we would listen to her. However, we saw the sailboats on the river and wanted to go look at them. So, we went to the river.

I stepped on the ice first and then my brother stepped on the ice. Then the ice cracked and he got up on the bank but I went under the water. My brother screamed that I was in the river and my mom ran down but couldn't see me. So, she ran back and screamed up the stairs to wake her youngest brother to help and he came running down to the river. He saw my snowsuit and pulled me out of the water, laid me on the snow bank and tried to give me mouth to mouth. He eventually said I was gone but my mother insisted that I couldn't be. The ambulance came and took me to the hospital where I was in a coma and given a blood transfusion.

I didn't have any recollection of the actual event. I only learned of it when I saw the scar on my ankle from the blood transfusion. I always had the sense that I was different and that people weren't being their true selves. I always felt the need to help others and was drawn to religion and dreamed of being a nun when I was young. One of the strongest guiding principles was that I felt a strong desire to do something that would help greater humanity.

There was always a lingering memory or presence of a memory that stayed with me but I was only able to describe it years later because I didn't attribute it to being near death because I didn't know that I had almost died. So, once the understanding of what happened to me became clearer the memory became clearer as well.

I was not in my body but somewhere else. In a space that I can only describe as Heaven. Heaven was almost like being in the clouds but I wouldn't say it is this realm. It is another realm. There are not trees or earthly things, just space and it was sort of mystical. I was aware of the presence of someone with me. However, I couldn't see this person. Yet, he was all around me like surround sound and he could speak to me with his mind. We communicated telepathically. He showed me how wonderful life was and to not be afraid. Life is a miracle. He instilled in me an everlasting excitement for life and also gave me an understanding of how I can help others by sharing this excitement. This is all I remember.

Of course, it wasn't my time otherwise I wouldn't be here today. The doctors said it was the ice that saved me by slowing my heart rate down. It is a miracle that I'm alive as I'm sure I was under for a period of time that one normally wouldn't survive given how long it took between falling in the water and getting to the hospital. I'm so grateful to be alive and I try to share the excitement that I felt during my NDE with as many people as I can even if it's just through smiling and showing love. 

NDERF.org #9311

NDEs are medically inexplicable: Long excerpt #4

Radiation oncologist Jeremy Long writes in his article, "Evidence for Survival of Consciousness in Near-Death Experiences: Decades of Science and New Insights" - Near-death experiences, by their very definition, occur at a time of unconsciousness and even clinical death with an absent heartbeat. Speaking both medically and logically, having a highly lucid experience while unconscious or clinically dead should be impossible. However, thousands of NDEs describe lucid conscious perceptions even while comatose.

Near-death experiences often occur in association with a cardiac arrest, which means the heart stops beating. This condition is popularly known by the phrase “heart attack”. To understand how remarkable it is to have an NDE at a time of clinical death, it is essential to know what happens when the heart stops beating. After the heart stops, blood immediately ceases flowing to the brain. About ten to twenty seconds later, the electroencephalogram (EEG), a measurement of brain electrical activity, is flat.  At this time there is no significant measurable electrical activity in the cortex, which is the outer part of the brain. Multiple studies show that patients are usually amnesic or confused about events that took place before or after the cardiac arrest.

Consequently, almost immediately after cardiac arrest, it should be impossible to have a lucid, organized, and conscious experience. But when a near-death experience occurs, a lucid experience happens even while physical brain function is shut down. The NDERF website has hundreds of examples of NDEs that happened during a cardiac arrest. The typical high lucidity in NDEs following cardiac arrest defies any possible medical explanation. Here are two examples of NDEs that occurred at the time of a cardiac arrest:

Joan had a spinal anesthetic for surgery on her ankle. There were complications, and she coded, which means her heart stopped. Joan describes her near-death experience:

I went from being in my body to being in a place of absolute love. I can only describe it like being in a swimming pool, but even my body was filled with this loving. I was one with this place, but also apart from it. I was still me, but I was far more than me. I was one with everything - and it was ALL good. I did hear beautiful music, but it wasn't like our music. The music itself was part of me, but I don't think I was singing. It was more like it was just part of me, and I was part of it, but it was much more than just me. I felt weightless and free - absolutely free. I was enfolded in this loving and was part of it too. There was not one single part of me or part of anything else that was not love. Individuals did not exist in the same way as we do here. I was still me, but I was also part of the loving. 

 

I KNEW things without hearing a single spoken word. I WAS love. I KNEW that all religions had it wrong. There is no way rules and judgment could flow from this place. Earthly religions made it complicated when it was very easy. There is only love, and all of us are part of it. There is NO way that we cannot be loved. We ARE love. Time did not exist. I have always loved my family on earth, but I did not miss them. I did not think of them. I was more joyful than I ever have been. I felt utterly connected to everything and everyone. We ARE inter-connected as one. There is no such thing as 'death'. This experience has changed me.

Another example of a near-death experience occurring at the time of a cardiac arrest is from Yazmine. Her heart stopped for six minutes. She received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which brought her back to life. After recovering, she shared her remarkable NDE:

Then suddenly I was above my body, which was lying on a stretcher bed and wearing a white hospital gown. I looked at my body and knew it wasn't the real me. It was the thing I had been caught inside. Now I was free! I felt such happiness! The joy was all- pervading. We like to get knotted up about the real-world pain, suffering, and loss, but they are all illusory experiences.

Everything became clear to me. The nurses were calling my name. One nurse was crying, and another was saying, ''Oh my God, we've lost her!" I was above them thinking how silly it was that they were making all that fuss. I wondered why they couldn't see me. I just knew that all was perfectly fabulous! Then I saw an open window about 6 inches wide. I thought, ''Wow, I wonder if I can fit through there?" Then instantly I was in another state.

Near-death experiencers (NDErs) are unconscious, comatose, or clinically dead. However, the lucidity they experience is usually a state of supernormal consciousness. The most recent NDERF survey asked 834 NDErs, “How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness?”

654 NDErs (78%) confirmed they experienced: “More consciousness and alertness than normal.” 142 (17%) experienced: “Normal consciousness and alertness.” And 38 (5%) experienced: “Less consciousness and alertness than normal.” 

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.

 

Experiences God's love and healing by an angel

In the middle of the night, I awoke with a severe migraine. I'd experienced occasional migraines since I was a teenager, but this particular migraine was extremely painful and I should have sought treatment at the Emergency Room. However, since I had very young children at the time, I didn't want to wake them or my husband, so I attempted to treat myself. I took my prescription migraine medication, but it did not provide any relief from the pain. Instead of waiting an hour before taking the second dose as the instructions advised, I waited 20 minutes and took the second dose. I also took two over-the-counter pills for migraine. I have always been very sensitive to medications, but at the time I did not consider this. I was only focused on relieving the intense pain. 

After taking the medications, I became very sleepy and returned to bed. When I drifted off to sleep, I would awaken by gasping for breath. I quickly realized that when I drifted off to sleep, I stopped breathing. I was fearful I would fall asleep and die. I said a very simple prayer, 'Dear God, please don't let me die. I want to be a mother and a wife.' As I said the prayer, I doubted God would hear me. At that time in my life, I felt insignificant. I was not sure God existed, and if He did, I didn't think he would know me. But I was about to be proven wrong.

Immediately after praying, I felt a presence come over my bed. I was lying on my back with my eyes closed, but I could sense a shadow had been cast as something moved over my body and then stood next to my bed. As soon as I felt the presence, I was frightened and I heard a Bible verse in my mind, 'An angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.' I realized I had received the Bible verse telepathically and an angel had arrived to help me. 

Then it felt as if the angel slipped his hand directly into my stomach. I felt a sensation unlike anything I'd ever experienced. Static was moving in my stomach and throughout my torso. I also saw in my mind's eye a vison of black and white static, as like on a tv set without reception. At the same time, I felt my deceased father's presence and I could hear him speaking into my right ear. He repeatedly said, 'You're going to be ok, you're going to be ok, you're going to be ok.'

As the angel stood to my left and my father spoke to me from my right, a very large, powerful presence hovered over the length of my body. When I noticed the large presence, my inner vision was changed to that of a crystal blue waterfall. The water was sparkling clear and the most beautiful blue I have ever seen. As I marveled at the sight of the water, the static sensation in my torso dissipated and was replaced with a sensation of liquid love rushing into my heart. The love was so pure and overwhelming that I immediately began to weep. The liquid love flowed through my heart and filled up my chest cavity to the point that I could not expand my lungs to inhale. I was aware of having difficulty breathing, but it did not concern me. 

I was so blissed out from the love, that nothing else mattered. I had the realization of, 'This must be God.' It was so large, infinite, and powerful, that I just knew it could have no other name than God. Once I realized I was in the presence of God, my next thought was, 'Oh no, God is going to judge me for taking too much medication.' I waited for the judgement. It did not come. I moved into the flow of God, searching for His judgement. No judgement was there. Not a speck. Only pure, adoring love was in the infinite flow of God.

At this point I lost awareness of my body. I did not recall I was a mother, wife, daughter, friend. I had no recollection of life on earth. I merged into an infinite presence that utterly and completely adored me. God did not speak words to me. The love said it all. I felt as if I was an awareness, a being without a name or identity, and I was expanding to the size of the cosmos. I was home. I realized home was where I wanted to remain forever and in my blissed-out state, it took all the energy I could muster to telepathically communicate, 'Take me.' With these two words, I was attempting to communicate that I wanted to remain in the pure love forever. 

As my presence continued to expand in a state of bliss, it felt as if I was nearing a point where I would explode into a billion atoms and forever be with God. I mentally prepared myself for the explosion and gladly welcomed it. At the very last millisecond before the explosion of my being and my total emergence into infinity, God pulled me out of Heaven and I landed with a shocking jolt into my body.

I lay in my bed, dazed and confused. My hair and pillow were soaked from the tears I had cried as the love consumed my heart and spirit. I have no idea how long I was with God, but when I returned to my body, it was completely healed. The medication had been removed. I was breathing normally. I was not lethargic. And my head felt normal. Usually after having a migraine, my head would be very sore to the point that brushing my hair would be unbearable. Now I could push against my skull and feel no pain or soreness. 

I attempted to process what had just happened. I knew that I had experienced something beyond any earthly experience I'd ever had. I told myself that I would allow myself to believe I had experienced a miracle, if when I awoke in the morning, I remained pain-free. Eventually I fell asleep and when I awoke in the morning, my body had no after-effects of a migraine or medication. I felt wonderful.

NDERF.org #9268

Consciousness transcends materiality and death

Dutch cardiologist Pim van Lommel writes: “It is quite interesting to mention that the assumption that our brain acts as a transceiver and not as a producer of consciousness is in striking concurrence with the view that was expressed over one century ago. Already in 1898, the psychologist William James wrote that the brain’s role in the experience of consciousness is not a productive, but a permissive or transmissive role; that is, it admits or transmits information.

“In his view, consciousness does not originate in this physical world, but already exists in another, transcendental sphere; access to aspects of consciousness depends on the personal ‘threshold of consciousness,’ which for some people is lower than for others, and which allows them to experience various aspects of enhanced consciousness.

“James draws on abnormal experiences of consciousness to support his theory: ‘The whole drift of my education goes to persuade me that the world of our present consciousness is only one out of many worlds of consciousness that exist, and that those other worlds must contain experiences which have a meaning for our life also.’

“James also stated: ‘The total expression of human experience, as I view it objectively, invincibly urges me beyond the narrow scientific bounds,” and he also writes about ‘the continuity of consciousness’ after physical death."

Van Lommel quotes Sir James H. Jeans (1877-1946), English physicist, astronomist, and mathematician, as affirming: “I incline to the idealistic theory that consciousness is fundamental, and that the material universe is derivative from consciousness, not consciousness from the material universe."

And van Lommel notes that Henri Bergson (1859-1941), French philosopher and Nobel prize winner for literature in 1927, asserted: “The more we become accustomed to this idea of a consciousness which overflows the organ we call the brain, then the more natural and probable we find the hypothesis that the soul survives the body.”

Pim Van Lommel, “Near-Death Experience and the Loss of Brain Function During Cardiac Arrest: A Strong Indication for Non-Local Consciousness,” in Beauregard, Mario; Dyer, Natalie; Woollacott, Marjorie, editors, Expanding Science: Visions of a Postmaterialist Paradigm. AAPS. Kindle Edition. (p. 254). AAPS. Kindle Edition.

Bergson, H. (1914, September 27). Quote from interview in The New York Times.

James, W. (1898) Human Immortality. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

Healing only by intent and at any distance

Physician Larry Dossey reports in “The Telecebo Response: Toward a Postmaterial Concept of Healing” on the following experiment:  

“In 2009, Tsubono, Thomlinson, and Shealy conducted a randomized controlled trial that assessed the ability of a healer to relieve chronic pain. The researchers concluded, ‘The results showed that the treatment group was significantly improved compared to the control group even though both groups were kept blind to their group assignment. Moreover, many subjects in the treatment group were relieved of chronic pain after only two months of healing. This suggests that healing can take place even from a distance, and distant healing can be a very effective treatment for chronic pain’ (Tsubono et al., 2009).

Dossey describes this “healing with intent” as the “telecebo response,” which has “both kinship with, and difference from, the placebo response—kinship, in that both telecebo and placebo effects arise from intentions, thoughts, and emotions; difference, in that placebo responses arise from a patient, while telecebo effects originate from a clinician” or someone else trying to heal by focusing an intention.

“In addition to studies in humans, telecebo effects are further supported by a body of research known as DMILS—distant mental interactions with living systems. These experiments involve a wide variety of entities such as organs, tissues, microbes, plants, and animals. In these studies, individuals have used their intentions to influence the growth rates of bacteria and fungi in test tubes and Petri dishes, the rate of wound healing in mice, the healing of transplanted cancers in mice, the function of cells in tissue cultures, the germination rates of seeds, the growth rates of seedlings, and many other phenomena.

“In 10 controlled experiments, Bengston tested the effect of ‘healing with intent’ on laboratory mice. In eight of these experiments, mice were injected with mammary adenocarcinoma (breast cancer) cells. In two experiments, mice with methylcholanthrene-induced sarcomas were used. The fatality rate for both cancers in mice, if untreated, is 100%.

“The healers were faculty and student volunteers. Although they had no previous experience or belief in healing with intent and were often skeptical of such, they were drilled extensively in the healing technique. Treatment length was from 30 to 60 minutes, delivered daily to weekly until the mice were cured or died. They were successful in producing full cures in approximately 90% of the mice.

“When mammary adenocarcinoma cells were re-injected into cured mice, the cancer would not take, suggesting that an immune response had been stimulated during treatment. The proximity of the volunteer healers to the cages of the mice varied from on site to approximately 600 miles.

“Thus, Bengston notes, ‘These effects were at times brought about from a distance that defies conventional understanding,’ suggesting that a nonlocal process was at work. “This series of studies, conducted at several academic centers, suggests that healing through intent can be predictable, reliable, and replicable (Bengston, 2010, 2012; Bengston & Krinsley, 2000; Bengtson & Moga, 2007).

Telecebo effects “are examples of nonlocal phenomena because they demonstrate the three essential features that characterize all nonlocal happenings: they are unmediated (by any known form of energy), unmitigated (their strength does not diminish with increasing distance), and immediate (instantaneous) (Herbert, 1987; Markoff, 2015).

 

Larry Dossey, “The Telecebo Response: Toward a Postmaterial Concept of Healing,” in Beauregard, Mario; Dyer, Natalie; Woollacott, Marjorie, editors, Expanding Science: Visions of a Postmaterialist Paradigm, (p. 248). AAPS. Kindle Edition. The Academy for the Advancement of Postmaterialist Sciences (AAPS), Tucson, AZ, 2020), 221-228.

Bengston, W. (2010). The Energy Cure: Unraveling the Mystery of Hands-on Healing. Louisville, CO: Sounds True Publishing. 

Bengston, W. F. (2012). "Spirituality, connection, and healing with intent: reflections on cancer experiments on laboratory mice." In Miller, L. J. (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 548-577. 

Bengston, W. F., & Krinsley, D. (2000). "The effect of the laying-on of hands on transplanted breast cancer in mice." Journal of Scientific Exploration. 14(3), 353-364. 

Bengston, W. F., & Moga, M. (2007). "Resonance, placebo effects, and type II errors: some implications from healing research for experimental methods." Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 13(3), 317-327.

Herbert, N. (1987). Quantum Reality. Garden City, NY: Anchor/Doubleday, p. 214.

Markoff, J. (2015). "Sorry, Einstein. Quantum study suggests ‘spooky action’ is real." Retrieved from: NYtimes.com.http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/22/science/quantum-theory-experiment-said-to-prove-spooky-interactions.html?emc=eta1. Accessed 22 October, 2015.

Tsubono, K., Thomlinson, P., & Shealy, N. (2009). "The effects of distant healing performed by a spiritual healer on chronic pain: A randomized controlled trial." Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 15 (3), 30-34.

Extraordinary Experiences: On Our Way Home

I begin my book by relating life-transforming experiences of scientists. After struck by lightning, surgeon Tony Cicoria heard music “from Heaven” and became a pianist to play it. Biophysicist Joyce Hawkes, after her near-death experience, heard a voice calling her to be a healer, studied with indigenous teachers, and became a cell-level healer. No longer agnostic, Cicoria and Hawkes now trust in the Source of life many call God. Some scientists, such as Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, and Steve Jobs, acknowledge extraordinary intuitive experiences revealing the secrets of nature. Other scientists report life-transforming healings, visions, and dreams. 
 
Stars, water, and life are natural phenomena but remain fundamental mysteries that may generate extraordinary human experiences. I explain why in chapters on Consciousness and Subjectivity, the Origin and Evolution of Life, a Creative Universe, Purpose and Meaning, Ethics and Ecology, and Nature and God.
 
These wondrous experiences offer evidence that we have come from and will return to an eternal dimension of reality, as unbounded by time and space as quantum reality. Some call it Heaven, the Other Side, or Cosmic Consciousness. Knowing this truth makes everyday life on earth extraordinary. And whether we know it or not, we are on our way home.
 
This is why I end the book by recognizing that the first line of the Lord’s Prayer is as compelling now as it was two millennia ago. Abba, may your kingdom come, may your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Abba is the Aramaic word for father that Jesus used, and Paul in his New Testament letters also refers to Abba. Source of all life and forgiving love, may we open our hearts to You during our extraordinary lives on earth. Amen.

 

Available in paperback ($8) and Kindle ($1) editions at https://www.amazon.com/Extraordinary-Experiences-Our-Way-Home/dp/B09JDX8ZLV/.

Materialism can't explain near-death experiences

Neuroscientist Mario Beauregard writes: "Near-death experiences (NDEs) are vivid, realistic, and often deeply life-changing experiences occurring to individuals who have been psychologically or physiologically close to death. A clear memory of the experience, enhanced mental activity, and a conviction that the experience is more real than ordinary waking consciousness are core features of NDEs (Greyson, 2011).

"NDEs are frequently evoked by cardiac arrest. When the heart stops, breathing stops as well, and blood flow and oxygen uptake in the brain are rapidly interrupted; the EEG becomes isoelectric (flat-line) within 10-20 seconds, and brainstem reflexes vanish (Clute & Levy, 1990); the individual having the cardiac arrest is then considered to be clinically dead. Because the brain structures supporting conscious experience and higher mental functions (e.g. perception, memory, and awareness) are dramatically impaired, cardiac arrest survivors are not expected to have clear and lucid mental experiences during the cardiac arrest period that will be remembered. 

"Nonetheless, studies carried out in the United Kingdom (Parnia et al., 2001), the Netherlands (van Lommel et al., 2001), Belgium (Lallier et al., 2015), and the United States (Schwaninger et al., 2002; Greyson, 2003) have revealed that about 15 percent of cardiac arrest survivors do report some recollection from the time when they were clinically dead. In these studies, more than 100 cases of full-blown NDEs were reported. It is noteworthy that while they are clinically dead, NDErs sometimes report perceptions that coincide with reality.

"Advocates of materialist theories of the mind object that even if the EEG is isoelectric, there may be some residual brain activity that goes undetected because of the limitations of scalp-EEG technology. This is possible, given that scalp-EEG technology measures mostly the activity of large populations of cortical neurons. However, the brain activity agreed upon by contemporary neuroscientists as the necessary condition of conscious experience is well detected via current EEG technology, and is clearly abolished by cardiac arrest (Greyson, 2011). 

"Proponents of materialist theories of the mind also argue that NDEs do not occur during the actual episodes of brain insult, but just before or just after the insult, when the brain is more or less functional (Saavedra-Aguilar & Gómez-Jeria, 1989; Blackmore, 1993; Woerlee, 2004). The problem with this interpretation is that unconsciousness generated by cardiac arrest leaves patients amnesic and confused for events occurring immediately before and after such episodes (Aminoff et al., 1988; Parnia & Fenwick, 2002; van Lommel et al., 2001)."

 

Mario Beauregard, “The Next Great Scientific Revolution,” in Beauregard, Mario; Dyer, Natalie; Woollacott, Marjorie. Expanding Science: Visions of a Postmaterialist Paradigm, Vol. 2, Postmaterialist Sciences Series (pp. 21-23). The Academy for the Advancement of Postmaterialist Sciences (AAPS), 2020. Kindle Edition.

Aminoff, M. J., Scheinman, M. M., Griffin, J. C., & Herre, J. M. (1988). Electrocerebral accompaniments of syncope associated with malignant ventricular arrhythmias. Annals of Internal Medicine, 108, 791–796.

Blackmore, S.J. (1993). Dying to Live: Science and the Near- Death Experience. London: Grafton.

Clute, H. L. & Levy, W. J. (1990). Electroencephalographic changes during brief cardiac arrest in humans. Anesthesiology, 73 (5), 821–825.

Greyson, B. (2003). Incidence and correlates of near-death experiences in a cardiac care unit. General Hospital Psychiatry, 25 (4), 269-276.

Greyson, B. (2011). Implications of near-death experiences for a postmaterialist psychology. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 2 (1), 37-45.

Lallier, F., Velly, G., & Leon, A. (2015). Near-death experiences in survivors of cardiac arrest: a study about demographic, medical, pharmacological and psychological context. Critical Care, 19 (Suppl 1), P421.

Parnia, S., & Fenwick, P. (2002). Near death experiences in cardiac arrest. Resuscitation, 52, 5–11.

Saavedra-Aguilar, J. C. & Gómez-Jeria, J. S. (1989). A neurobiological model for near-death experiences. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 7 (4), 205-222.

van Lommel, P., van Wees, R., Meyers, V. & Elfferich, I. (2001). Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: A prospective study in the Netherlands. Lancet, 358 (9298), 2039–2045.

Woerlee, G. M. (2004). Cardiac arrest and near-death experiences. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 22, 235-249.

"Love is everything, does everything" . . .

After the pain, everything changed. I left my body and didn’t look back at my physical body because I didn’t want to. I looked only at the tunnel and at the light. I was drawn into that tunnel.

The walls of this tunnel were mainly covered with photos. I was physically in all the pictures, but I didn’t recognize myself in all of them. I remember stopping to take a closer look at one of these pictures. In the picture, I was with several people, sitting in the back of a red convertible, and driving in a sunny spot. There were five of us in the car, and we were all happy. We were laughing together. I didn’t recognize myself and the others, I just know it was me. With reflection, I have come to think that these photos could be images of my previous lives memories that are stored on the energetic fence of my soul. Analogous to if the tunnel represented the walls of my Soul and when I arrived there I was in a state of pure spirit.

Sitting on the red convertible, my physical body was totally different from the one I have today. That’s why the photo affected me that much and surely because it contained an important memory.

In the tunnel everything went so fast. But somehow, I had the time to see all the photos if I wanted to. There was no time. It was like time no longer existed and that it never existed. I feel that only in the non-physical state can a person understand this notion of “without time” or the non-existence of time because it seems impossible to describe it on Earth.

At the end of the tunnel, I found myself in a totally white place made of light. Nothing there was material, only the immense, white light. There was no end or beginning. It was like being inside an infinite sea of light, with gentle pink waves.

The light was not blinding and it was so beautiful. And above all, it was so warm. This white place was full of love, sweetness, warmth and peace. But I felt Love at its highest when three immense columns of light came in front of me. These columns of light were esoteric beings. I have never felt a love such as this one. The love that they have for me and that I have for them, is indescribable.

No one on Earth knows me more than they do and I know no one more than I know them. I am part of them as they are a part of myself. Even my sister, with who I am very close, and even my mother, seemed and still seem to me like strangers compared to the three of these Beings. I know there are many more of these Beings where I come from. They are my family. I cannot describe this love because, it can only be felt as it exceeds our understanding of love on earth. Nothing can be used to compare it. The love we have on Earth is not really love, it is rather an educational love to teach us what Love is. We destroy love, we condition it, we suppress it, and we change it, thinking we know what love is. But Love is everything, love does everything, and love must be understood. Love is totally misunderstood and Earth is a great school and opportunity to teach us about Love.

These three pure Beings spoke to me in a different language. They used my thoughts but it was different than thoughts. They reminded me that I had chosen to be incarnate on Earth and that I had to go back. I already knew that by being by their side, everything was coming back to me. They gave me so much love. I was at home and I badly wanted to stay. I didn’t want to leave, but I had to go back. That’s how it had to be. I remember laughing a lot with them. They understood me. They knew the difficulty of an incarnation, as well as I knew it before I incarnated on Earth.

I was so small compare to them. I didn’t see them entirely; they were too tall. It was like being at the foot of Hyperion, the highest tree of the world. Or it was like looking at a cloud that grew from the soil of Earth to rise up to the heavens. I didn’t see their faces, hands, or their legs. I don’t even know if they have any. They are light; love is light - I know that. A beautiful, pure column of light, that’s the only way I can describe them.

I know now, that the place where I met them was just a wonderful transition place. It was like a cross between several worlds and surely a cross between several universes. But I can tell you that even in this place of transition, no cravings exist, no fears, and no lacking for anything. I had everything. I was everything and I didn’t need anything. I knew it and I understood. Everything was simple, in its place. Everything was pure and unconditional love. There were no rules, and all decisions belonged to me. Nobody decided for me. These three beautiful Beings helped me get back to Earth.

I don’t know how long I was there for; it could have been a month was like a second, or a year like a day. It’s impossible to say.

So, I went back. I had to. I went down that tunnel and looked at the pictures. I can’t tell if they were the same pictures, but they were there. After the tunnel, I came into the living room and was on the ceiling. My physical body was lying on the couch and all my friends were around me. They were stressed while moving and touching my body.

When I returned to my body it was very difficult and I was in pain. It was a physical pain but also, a pain in my soul. I was choking, feeling uncomfortable and cold. The contrast was like being in a huge lake of pure, clear, and warm water, with this pure water becoming me, covering me with love, extending my being to the sky. Then suddenly, finding myself inside a small box open to a dark rainy sky, in a deserted cold street in town, where every drop of rain that fell on me, brought ice into every inch of my blood.  

NDERF.org #8935

Jesus gives hope and purpose during NDE

At the time of my experience, I had a very hard life with disease and I had a feeling of disorientation. I was religious, being Catholic, but found no happiness in this denomination. Additionally, my wife passed after long suffering with cancer. Nursing her gave my life a purpose and was blocking out my inner turmoil. But after her passing, these questions arose again and I didn't find any answers. I was extremely exhausted due to the long nursing period. In short, I didn't see a sense in continuing my life and was trying to kill myself with my wife's remaining pain medications.

I was dozing off for some time. When suddenly, I was startled because I was literally ejected out of my body. I was wide awake and floating above my body. It looked so unfamiliar from a bird's eye view. I left the room and the house. The journey stopped in endless space. Gradually, I became aware of the presence of spiritual beings, but didn't pay them any attention. 'Seeing' was a pleasurable experience because everything was seen and perceived through consciousness. Perception and understanding was amazing; happening immediately. I marveled at how slow is the mind in comparison to this.

At first, there was a slow forward motion. But I didn't know why I was moving or where I was going. Suddenly, the destination of the journey seemed to be clear. Then, the forward speed increased like going into hyperdrive. I was rushing through worlds at amazing speed. The only thing I perceived was the alternating of the different colors and light intensities. With this, I always was floating about half a meter above the ground. I didn't feel any resistance at all; no friction due to the velocity.

Finally, I reached the destination. Around me it was pitch-dark. I perceived the presence of many beings. They gave me the impression of being slow and especially dull. They didn't speak together. They even seemed not to notice the darkness because they were so much involved with themselves. I was thinking, 'Here, I'm at the wrong place. I don't feel well here!'

Even though it was pitch-dark I could see distinctly that I was standing on the shore of a lake. I didn't have the time to think about my condition because I could see a boat far away. Standing upright in the boat, there was a man holding a lantern and he was looking towards us. I immediately knew him. It was Jesus! No wonder he was the only light to be seen far and wide. But I didn't care about him. I was completely lethargic about him. Finally he came ashore and stayed about an arm's length away from me. He looked at me with indescribably shiny, loving eyes and gave me a hug. I was immediately surrounded in brightness. Immediately, all my worries and burdens fell away from me. It was simply wonderful being bathed in bliss and love! Suddenly, I was filled with a confidence that I never knew before. It was like I was a different person. It was immediately clear to me, that only my own thinking had been limiting my potential. He was 'talking to me in my mind' and told me two things about my future; that I would find my spiritual master and reach the goal of spiritual effort otherwise known as 'self-fulfillment.'

How I came back to my body, I don't know. I had been in a coma for three days at home, and later on at the intensive care station. What I remember next, is looking for my room in the psychiatric ward. I couldn't remember my room number and all the doors looked the same.

In the same week when I was back home, a working friend told me that she wanted to reduce her private library and asked me if I may have any interest in a book of Ramana Maharshi, an Indian mystic. I had never heard of him, but I remembered Jesus' words that I would find my spiritual teacher. The book captivated me from the beginning and it became my life's compass. Twenty years later,the second declaration of Jesus came true. How terrible would it have been if my suicide had been successful and I would have seen how my life could blossom. I had no idea that it could change in a way that I never could have dreamed of. 

NDERF.org #8950

"The liquid love flowed through my heart."

In the middle of the night, I awoke with a severe migraine. I'd experienced occasional migraines since I was a teenager, but this particular migraine was extremely painful and I should have sought treatment at the Emergency Room. However, since I had very young children at the time, I didn't want to wake them or my husband, so I attempted to treat myself. I took my prescription migraine medication, but it did not provide any relief from the pain. Instead of waiting an hour before taking the second dose as the instructions advised, I waited 20 minutes and took the second dose. I also took two over-the-counter pills for migraine. I have always been very sensitive to medications, but at the time I did not consider this. I was only focused on relieving the intense pain. After taking the medications, I became very sleepy and returned to bed. When I drifted off to sleep, I would awaken by gasping for breath. I quickly realized that when I drifted off to sleep, I stopped breathing. I was fearful I would fall asleep and die. I said a very simple prayer, 'Dear God, please don't let me die. I want to be a mother and a wife.' As I said the prayer, I doubted God would hear me. At that time in my life, I felt insignificant. I was not sure God existed, and if He did, I didn't think he would know me. But I was about to be proven wrong.

Immediately after praying, I felt a presence come over my bed. I was lying on my back with my eyes closed, but I could sense a shadow had been cast as something moved over my body and then stood next to my bed. As soon as I felt the presence, I was frightened and I heard a Bible verse in my mind, 'An angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.' I realized I had received the Bible verse telepathically and an angel had arrived to help me. Then it felt as if the angel slipped his hand directly into my stomach. I felt a sensation unlike anything I'd ever experienced. Static was moving in my stomach and throughout my torso. I also saw in my mind's eye a vision of black and white static, as like on a tv set without reception. At the same time, I felt my deceased father's presence and I could hear him speaking into my right ear. He repeatedly said, 'You're going to be ok, you're going to be ok, you're going to be ok.' 

As the angel stood to my left and my father spoke to me from my right, a very large, powerful presence hovered over the length of my body. When I noticed the large presence, my inner vision was changed to that of a crystal blue waterfall. The water was sparkling clear and the most beautiful blue I have ever seen. As I marveled at the sight of the water, the static sensation in my torso dissipated and was replaced with a sensation of liquid love rushing into my heart. The love was so pure and overwhelming that I immediately began to weep. The liquid love flowed through my heart and filled up my chest cavity to the point that I could not expand my lungs to inhale. I was aware of having difficulty breathing, but it did not concern me. I was so blissed out from the love, that nothing else mattered. I had the realization of, 'This must be God.' It was so large, infinite, and powerful, that I just knew it could have no other name than God. Once I realized I was in the presence of God, my next thought was, 'Oh no, God is going to judge me for taking too much medication.' I waited for the judgement. It did not come. I moved into the flow of God, searching for His judgement. No judgement was there. Not a speck. Only pure, adoring love was in the infinite flow of God.

At this point I lost awareness of my body. I did not recall I was a mother, wife, daughter, friend. I had no recollection of life on earth. I merged into an infinite presence that utterly and completely adored me. God did not speak words to me. The love said it all. I felt as if I was an awareness, a being without a name or identity, and I was expanding to the size of the cosmos. I was home. I realized home was where I wanted to remain forever and in my blissed-out state, it took all the energy I could muster to telepathically communicate, 'Take me.' With these two words, I was attempting to communicate that I wanted to remain in the pure love forever. As my presence continued to expand in a state of bliss, it felt as if I was nearing a point where I would explode into a billion atoms and forever be with God. I mentally prepared myself for the explosion and gladly welcomed it. At the very last millisecond before the explosion of my being and my total emergence into infinity, Go

NDERF,org #9268