Conclusions Regarding Near-Death Experiences

In sum, there is considerable evidence of nonphysical survival (with some dimension of nonphysical embodiment). The four most important sources of evidence are as follows:

(1) Among those who could remember having a near-death experience, there is remarkable consistency surrounding ten features of the experience, seven of which are unique to near-death experiences, two of which are shared with physical embodiment (positive emotions and perception of colors), and one of which is shared with out-of-body experiences (seeing one’s body from above and being capable of trans-material migration) – in van Lommel, Ring, Morse, and Moody).

(2) Corroborated, veridical, sensorial knowledge by patients who were unconscious (van Lommel, Ring, Morse, and Moody).

(3) Corroborated, veridical, sensorial knowledge by blind patients who were unconscious (Ring and van Lommel).

(4) Significantly lower fear of death, particularly by children. (Morse)

The corroborated veridical sensorial knowledge by both sighted and blind patients is very significant because there does not appear to be any physical explanation for these corroborated phenomena, leading to the conclusion that there must be some form of nonphysical conscious existence (including self-consciousness, memory, intelligence, and self-identity), and some survival of nonphysical embodiment (which allows for interaction with the physical world). Van Lommel concludes as follows:

How could a clear consciousness outside one’s body be experienced at the moment that the brain no longer functions during a period of clinical death with flat EEG? . . . Furthermore, blind people have described veridical perception during out-of-body experiences at the time of this experience. NDE pushes at the limits of medical ideas about the range of human consciousness and the mind-brain relation. In our prospective study of patients that were clinically dead (flat EEG, showing no electrical activity in the cortex and loss of brain stem function evidenced by fixed dilated pupils and absence of the gag reflex) the patients report a clear consciousness, in which cognitive functioning, emotion, sense of identity, or memory from early childhood occurred, as well as perceptions from a position out and above their ‘dead’ body.^[31]

Though this large body of evidence does not constitute a proof for eternal life (because there is no guarantee that this nonphysical survival of consciousness and sensation will last forever), it does give clues to eternal post-mortem survival through what might be called intuitions of the heart. The love of the being of light, the love and joy of departed loved ones, and the perception of paradise, seem to betoken the intention of a loving deity to fulfill our greatest desire, namely, unconditional love and joy with that deity for all eternity. This last point deserves special consideration because in every instance of an encounter with the “being of light” in the studies of van Lommel, et al, Morse et al, Ring et al, and Moody, patients reported the experience to be one of intense love. The following case resembles hundreds of others reported by the above researchers:

I became very weak, and I fell down. I began to feel a sort of drifting, a movement of my real being in and out of my body, and to hear beautiful music. I floated on down the hall and out the door onto the screened-in porch. There, it almost seemed that clouds, a pink mist really, began to gather around me, and then I floated right straight on through the screen, just as though it weren’t there, and up into this pure crystal clear light, an illuminating white light. It was beautiful and so bright, so radiant, but it didn’t hurt my eyes. It’s not any kind of light you can describe on earth. I didn’t actually see a person in this light, and yet it has a special identity, it definitely does. It is a light of perfect understanding and perfect love…. And all during this time, I felt as though I were surrounded by an overwhelming love and compassion.^[32]

This experience of overwhelming love by those who encountered the “being of light” may legitimately provoke the intuition that this being’s intention is not only transitory benevolence, but to give unconditional and eternal love (which happens to correspond with the fulfillment of our greatest desire).