After the Bell Tolls, Then What? ---The Amazing Saga of Dr Eben Alexander III

The question of what happens to us at the time of bodily death has been widely debated by theologians, philosophers, and scientists throughout the ages. While some hold that we have a soul or a spirit that survives, others have a more mechanistic view. They believe that our consciousness is simply the result of brain function, the firing of neurons. Thus, when the brain dies, that is the end of us. But, in truth, this is all hypothetical. No one really knows---or do they? Dr. Eben Alexander thinks he has the answer.

Dr Alexander is a seasoned neurosurgeon who was trained at Duke and Harvard. In spite of a religious upbringing, his scientific background coupled with his life experiences, had led to him to be a religious nonbeliever. He had no expectation of an afterlife. And then something happened that dramatically changed all that. Dr. Alexander had a near death experience!

He woke up one morning several years ago with a debilitating headache and backache. Within a short period of time he was in a coma, suffering from a rare strain of bacterial meningitis. In the hospital, his doctors were not hopeful regarding his chances of survival, much less recovery. He remained in that coma for seven days, hovering between life and death. And then, remarkably, he woke up, dazed and confused, but with vivid memories of what had occurred while in the comatose state. Amazingly he suffered no neurological damage whatsoever. As he pondered all that he remembered and the fact that he had emerged unscathed, he attempted to find scientific reasons to explain it all. Could he have had hallucinations as a result of the disease? Was the lack of adequate blood flow, and thus lack of sufficient oxygen to his brain an explanation? In the end, he had to abandon looking to science for answers, and accepted the conclusion that he couldn't at first believe. His consciousness had left his body!

Last month, I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Alexander when he was here as one of the keynote speakers at the IANDS yearly conference.(International Association for Near Death Studies) Although I had seen him make a short appearance on "Through the Wormhole" on the SCI channel, I knew little about him and had no idea what to expect. When I encountered him in person, the presentation I had seen on TV paled in comparison to the dynamic, personable individual that I met. Eben Alexander is excited about what happened to him. He is enthusiastic to get his message out. And that message is emphatically, "There is an afterlife. I know. I've been there!"
When he spoke at the conference, he had all who attended hanging on to his every word. Most were brought to tears by his narrative. Even the strongest skeptics had to be left with some doubt! I'm not going to give away the details of his story because Dr Alexander will be a guest of the Rhine this Friday night, Oct 7th, at the Stedman Auditorium. So if possible, anyone who can, should hear this in person. If not, he is in the process of writing a book which will reveal all. I will only remark again that he is convinced that there is life after death, that he experienced it, and that it is good!

The survival question is not often addressed at the Rhine, not because we don't find it of interest or importance. In fact, J.B. Rhine considered it to be the tacit issue that underlied much of his research. He recognized though that life after death did not lend itself well to the scientific method! The possibility of nonlocal consciousness, however, is often cited as a reasonable explanation for the paranormal phenomena that we do research. While, at this point, we can demonstrate that certain PSI events do occur, the underlying mechanism by which they occur, remains a mystery.
So, what really does happen when we die? Is, in fact, the mind separate from the body, having it's own eternal existence? For some, Eben Alexander's account of his journey into another dimension, in spite of a nonfunctional brain, will just give further credence to their already held belief that an afterlife is a reality. For others, skepticism will remain, or perhaps there will be absolute disbelief. However, as difficult as it may be to fully grasp this concept, sooner or later, each and every one of us are inevitably going to find out! Until then, we will probably just have to wonder!

-- Cynthia Nigro Ph.D.

Does Time Slow Down During a Crisis?

David Eagleman, an Assistant Professor of neuroscience and psychology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas recently reported on experiments of his team that showed that despite what folks commonly experience, time does not slow down during a crisis. Nor does brain processing speed up, so that time seems to slow down. What their research shows is that during a crisis, such as a NDE, often "the part of the brain called the amygdale becomes more active, and lays down extra sets of memories that go along with the actual events." So when you play the event back in your memory, you recall time slowing down, though that is not what happened.

Let’s consider another common part of a Near Death Experience, the life review. People having a NDE often report a replaying of their whole life as part of the experience. I do not want to take away from the spiritual aspect of the NDE, that is an essential part of my life. But I think a life review would be explained as a logical part of how consciousness works during a life threatening crisis, especially if we view consciousness as part of the DNA's adaptability. In an earlier blog I discussed how natural selection would need to limit PSI ability. The link is here http://rhineonline.blogspot.com/search/label/Evolutionary%20advantage.

My experiences and study of Remote Viewing, and other PSI events, has led me to believe that PSI is part of the normal processing of information that constitutes consciousness. Dr. Jim Carpenter's "First Sight" model of PSI, and Dr. Christine Hardy's exploration of Semantic Constellations both describe " pre-experiential mental processes by which the mind structures all its experiences and commences all its actions", as Dr. Carpenter notes. I noticed, as I look at the mind as an evolved tool of genes, shaped by and tailored for the process of natural selection, that we can see the process of consciousness conforming also to the process of natural selection. This process requires three things, genetic variation, inheritance, and differential fitness. Consciousness provides these three things. Your thoughts, beliefs, ideas and knowledge vary and change over time, the raw materials in your brain progress and grow. Likewise, these things remain inheritable from situation to situation you find yourself in over time, that is what memory is. But it is existence of differential fitness in mental process that shows just how great thinking is as a tool evolved over time. With mental processes, the range of adaptability is vastly increased in the individual. Also, the range of solutions to problems is beyond just conscious problem solving. Research shows that subliminally, the brain is gathering and processing information, and solutions to problems can spontaneously pop into your consciousness without conscious effort. As you experience, the vast majority of what you do is initiated and carried out without your considered effort, because your mind is processing multiple systems of information constantly, subconsciously.

But when you encounter a new situation, the brain scrambles to adapt to the novel environmental factor it needs to deal with. It does this by trying known solutions to similar events, and if that does not work, it goes into automatic, instinctual and "dis-associated" mode as it rapidly tries to find a way to process the new information. Getting back to NDEs, people who have had them commonly report they recall their minds experiencing multiple thought lines at once, like those reported by Albert Heim who recounted his own brush with death during a fall. It is also in these crisis moments that PSI events occur, as all available data from the mind is accessed to adapt to the potentially life ending event. If the material for thought and consciousness is being processed to insure survival, then could the "life review" be a memory data dump, a last chance attempt to access all the stored experiences of the individual, making it available for the conscious and especially the subconscious to use to come up with a last second save? Could the sense of "linear time" of the life review be, like the recalled experience of time slowing down during crisis, simply be the memory's way of organizing the entire life data file when it’s recalled later? Can you recall your life any other way?

Again, I am not saying that all of an NDE is just biological processes. But the life review fits right in with an understanding of how consciousness works. It is that same understanding of the mind processes that help explain where PSI fits in, and helps me understand the dynamics involved in Remote Viewing.
-- Benton Bogle

Have You Had a Near-Death Experience?

As many of you know, our office mates in our building include IANDS, the International Association for Near-Death Studies, Inc. IANDS is embarking on a project which may lead to a television series about near death experiences and their impact on people's lives. They are looking for experiencers who would like to share their stories. We are passing this notice along to you as we believe that many of you may be interested!

IANDS is cooperating with a television production company on a possible TV series about near-death experiences and their impact on people's lives. We are inviting experiencers to consider participating.

The producers are interested in the following types of experience:
· NDE
· Near-death-like experiences
· Shared near-death experiences
· Distressing near-death experiences
· Out-of-body experiences (without other elements of an NDE)
· Tunnel experiences
· Angel experiences
· Light beings experiences
· Light experiences (without other elements of an NDE)
· Life review experiences
· Meetings with dead relatives
· After-death communication
· Apparitions

If you have had an experience like any of these--especially if your life has been strongly affected by it--and would like to have it considered as the basis for an episode, please let IANDS know (see below).

This is a preliminary request for experiences, as there is no guarantee that the series will be picked up for broadcasting. Your willingness to participate does not ensure that your experience will be included, as we cannot guarantee that it will be selected. The producers, not IANDS, will select the accounts they wish to use. If your experience is selected, there is no guarantee that you will appear on camera.

We will review all experience accounts that come to the office. Someone will notify you if the TV producer wants to talk with you. Please DO NOT call the IANDS office to check on your status. If the producer wants to talk with you, you will be notified; if you do not receive a message that the producer wants to talk with you, the producer has decided not to use your experience.

We will post an announcement on the IANDS website when we know whether the series has been picked up for broadcasting.

Here's how to send your experience for consideration:

Send us an email or letter, including these four things:
· your name, address, phone number, and email address if you have one
· a full description of your experience and its impact on your life
· a statement that you agree to having your experience considered for a TV show
· a statement that you agree not to submit your experience to any other TV show unless it is not selected by these producers

If you are using email, send to office@iands.org.

If you use regular mail, send the letter to:

IANDS
2741 Campus Walk Ave
Durham, NC 27705-8878
USA

Be sure to include the description of your experience!