As I’ve indicated before, I’m very interested in the phenomenon of near-death experiences. I’ve studied hundreds of them. I’ve read extensively on the subject.
They are so widely reported that I find it inconceivable that the phenomenon is “made-up.” The crucial remaining question, of course, regards their significance. Do they really point to “another world,” or are they indicators, merely, of subjective brain events, similar across time and cultures because of our shared human physiology?
I’m strongly inclined to think that they genuinely do foreshadow postmortem events.
That said, though, not all such accounts are created equal. For one thing, I’m more disposed to credit the anonymous accounts gathered by serious researchers from people who stand to gain nothing from the experiences they report than to trust books written by named individuals about their own experiences. Some of those seem to me very believable. Some, though, have struck me as simply too much. Too detailed.
I met the author of one such book not long after it had reached the New York Times best-seller list. I spent several hours with her in a small group at a friend’s house, and, I admit, the longer I was there the more uneasy I felt about her. Once, I heard her on a call-in radio program. Callers asked questions regarding what she had learned during her experience about such subjects as adoption, gambling, the status of world religions, and so forth. She had authoritative answers for every question, without exception. It was, as I say, too much for me. There was no modesty about it. I almost expected her to begin suggesting stock picks and horse racing tips. From the hundreds of accounts I’ve read, one of the things that have impressed me has been their simplicity and consistency. This one, though, was an outlier.
I worry about false memories, exaggerations, stories becoming more elaborate over time, the grinding of theological axes, self-glorification, even sheer fiction (such as the best-selling case of the aptly-named Alex Malarkey). And now, many books having been published over the past few decades on near-death experiences (several of which include lists of basic recurring elements or features), a would-be forger of such an experience has plenty of templates — effectively, paint-by-the-numbers guides — from which to concoct his or her own story.
With that caveat, I offer some initial notes from I Saw Heaven: A Remarkable Visit to the Spirit World (Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, 2006).
First, a brief description of an out-of-body experience — a simple but rather typical one — during a difficult labor:
Georgia later described to me what happened to her next. A soothing calm and tranquility swept over her as the pain vanished. She was watching the delivery from a detached position above the bed and to one side. How wonderful to be out of the pain, she thought to herself.
Her immediate impulse was to leave. She had never experienced such warmth and overwhelming love before. There was such a sense of peace and joy. She looked again at herself lying on the bed and realized the twins needed her help to be born, even just to live.
Suddenly she was back in her body. As her overpowering emotions climaxed, the pain flooded over her in cascading waves. (40-41)
Then the author tells about his own experience, following the devastating collapse of a scaffold on a construction project, with the light and with a being of light that are very common features of innumerable accounts:
I began ascending again and passed through the ceiling. Suddenly, a brilliant white light burst upon me. It was brighter than the sun and more intense. I was being pulled toward the light. I was drawn very close to it before I stopped.
As I stared intently into the light, I could faintly see facial features but nothing else. A soft, loving voice spoke to me from the light, and a peaceful calm came over me. I felt I was being comforted. I also felt an unconditional love directed to me. (56)
He also describes a “life review,” which is one of the standard features of such reports:
The being within the light uttered a phrase which I can’t remember, but the phrase triggered a total recall of my life from the time when I was first born until the accident when I had died. My whole life passed before my eyes as if I were viewing a very vivid film. It was moving at a very high speed, and yet I could view each scene that unfolded with crystal clarity, and the speed seemed normal to me too.
It seemed as if I were judging myself, for I found no judgment from the being standing before me. Instead of condemnation, I felt an unconditional, loving tolerance such as a parent would feel toward his children after they’d done something wrong.
As the scenes of my life unfolded, I felt good knowing that I had handled certain situations very well. I could see how I had increased my spiritual development and advancement. But I didn’t like other scenes I saw. I judged myself very harshly because of the way I had handled them. I thought to myself how much better I could have dealt with those situations. I found myself desperately wanting to go back to correct my actions in them. The things I had botched had retarded my spiritual development and had held me back. I was being much harder on myself than any judge could ever be. (56-57)
To be continued.
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Posted from Phoenix, Arizona
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