Clinical death experiences

[Autumnovember]

6 years ago a guy that I was dating passed away in a horrific and tragic accident when he was hit by two cars while at the Jersey shore.

For a while, I had a really difficult time dealing with it. I'm sure a lot of it had to do with the fact that it was the first death that I experienced and it didn't help that we were the same age.

While I was at the book store a year later, I found a book called "Life After Life."

After reading this book, I felt a lot more at ease with his death and it helped me heal tremendously. Over the years, I have given the book to people who were grieving with their own personal losses of family members and it has also helped them.

The book is basically a collection of cases of individuals accounts & descriptions of what took place during their clinical deaths. Many of them had very fascinating similarities.

What are your thoughts on it? Do you know anyone who has experienced something similar?

I also read a lot about out of body experiences that occur to people during surgery.

I'm fascinated.

 

[JewelFreak]

Watch "I Survived....Beyond and Back" on Bio Channel. It's on here on Sunday, I think. Check your local listing. They have 3 people in each episode describing exactly those experiences, beyond fascinating.

--- Laurie

 

[tyty333]

Hi Autumnovember,

My parents are starting to get up there in years and I have no idea how I'm going to be able to deal with their
passing. They are in there early 70's and are very young and active but I know it cant last forever and I
fret weekly about losing them. Do you think this book would be good for someone like me?

Thanks,
tyty

 

[kenny]

National Geographic did an episode called, "Moment of Death".
It is streaming on Netflix.
Fascinating.

Seems oxygen deprivation of the brain has the identical effect in all people, believer or atheist - that oft-described moving towards the light at the end of a tunnel, etc.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/explorer/3815/Overview

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Maybe I'll look into that book. Not a lot of people I know have died, but there have been a few serious situations... I never read any books on how to cope. In fact, nobody has recommended any reading material.

 

[Autumnovember]

Hi Autumnovember,

My parents are starting to get up there in years and I have no idea how I'm going to be able to deal with their
passing. They are in there early 70's and are very young and active but I know it cant last forever and I
fret weekly about losing them. Do you think this book would be good for someone like me?

Thanks,
tyty

Hey tyty, I would definitely recommend this book. I have given it to about 5 people who were experiencing the death of a loved one and they all told me that it gave them some peace of mind about it. I gave it to others too, who weren't necessarily dealing with a loss and they enjoyed reading it as well!

 

[Autumnovember]

Watch "I Survived....Beyond and Back" on Bio Channel. It's on here on Sunday, I think. Check your local listing. They have 3 people in each episode describing exactly those experiences, beyond fascinating.

--- Laurie

Thank you!!!! I was trying to figure out what the name of the show was called and couldn't find it! Thanks so much, can't wait to watch it.

 

[Autumnovember]

Maybe I'll look into that book. Not a lot of people I know have died, but there have been a few serious situations... I never read any books on how to cope. In fact, nobody has recommended any reading material.

You know, its weird because it isn't a book about coping but the accounts of peoples experiences and what it felt like while they were clinically dead IS what makes it easier to cope. After reading the book, it gave me a sense of peace that this was what my friend was feeling at the time of his death. It made it easier for me to rule out the idea that he died in any sort of pain. A lot of the cases in the book are about people who were involved in serious car accidents with painful body damage. One particular person said that the feeling of going towards the light is unexplainable. She said there aren't enough adjectives that could ever possibly describe the feeling. Almost every single person didn't want to return back...they WANTED to go.

 

[Autumnovember]

National Geographic did an episode called, "Moment of Death".
It is streaming on Netflix.
Fascinating.

Seems oxygen deprivation of the brain has the identical effect in all people, believer or atheist - that oft-described moving towards the light at the end of a tunnel, etc.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/explorer/3815/Overview

Thank you a ton!! My best friend has Netflix...I'm definitely going to watch this tomorrow.

 

[JewelFreak]

It is real. I won't go into details, but I saw it when somebody else was dying in the next room. Before any books had been written, tv shows made, in a time when even telling someone would've gotten the white-coat guys after you. Have heard of a few others w/the same experience. Real as the computer in front of me now.

Also, I don't know if anybody will get this, but the oft-produced theory that it's merely a way your body makes dying easier doesn't make sense. Evolution preserves traits & abilities that allow for survival of a species -- period. There is no evolutionary advantage in making the death experience pleasant; therefore I doubt this idea profoundly. It's not logical physically. But, on the other hand, who's gonna prove it one way or the other?

--- Laurie

 

[athenaworth]

I would love to believe something like this. It would really help me, but I just can't.

 

[Autumnovember]

I would love to believe something like this. It would really help me, but I just can't.

I didn't either until after I read the book and a few others...

Also, I keep trying to find an answer to how people have out of body experiences during surgery. On the news recently, I saw a study that is being conducted for the next year where an object is places somewhere in the operating room that cannot be seen by the patient on the table. The object is placed in a spot that can only be seen if the individual is "floating" above the operating table. So far, they have said the results have been really interesting...

Its not a coincidence that there are patients who can describe certain things that were occuring to them while they were under general anesthesia that they would have absolutely NO chance of knowing while under, IMO.

 

[kenny]

Also, I don't know if anybody will get this, but the oft-produced theory that it's merely a way your body makes dying easier doesn't make sense. Evolution preserves traits & abilities that allow for survival of a species -- period. There is no evolutionary advantage in making the death experience pleasant; therefore I doubt this idea profoundly. It's not logical physically. But, on the other hand, who's gonna prove it one way or the other?

--- Laurie

Evolutionary advantages are about what resulted in more successful reproduction.
After death there is no reproduction going on (well, before cryogenically frozen sperm and eggs) so I fail to see how evolution could have selected for any particular death experience.

 

[jewelerman]

When I was 9 years old I died right after surgery.I experienced all the things that people associate with a life after death experience.. Seeing myself from the top of the room while the doctors worked to bring me back,the white light,the choice to stay or come back,the love that you feel from those that have gone before you and their presence,the lack of time and space.I discuss this rarely and im not sure why im sharing it now with you, but it happens more then people think and there is a lot of research done on life after death experiences.Dr. Raymond Moody wrote the book Life after life and was one of the first people to seriously study the phenomenon.I thought i was the only one who this had happened to until i told my mother about the experience several years later as she was studying the topic.Death isn't the end and there is more to death then just dying.

 

[dragonfly411]

This might sound pretty out there, but it's a thought process I've been toying with recently and trying to figure out an answer to. Energy is neither created nor destroyed. Our emotions, thoughts, feelings, mentality, our "souls" if you will are a form of energy.... they have to do something when we pass.............right??

 

[Jessie702]

I have worked, until recently , at a funeral home, and i believe in Life after death. There is something in me, that just cant accept that this is it. If you think about it, in that way, life is rather sad. Also, when working at a funeral home, this sounds weird, but you "Feel" spirits, or someone. I dont think people really feel until they spend a rather large amount of time there. Also, my father, had a out of body experince when he had a triple-heart bypass. He described to me and my mother, that he was like floating above his body, and was wacthing the surgery, oddly that was when they were having issues with the surgery. He said, he felt at peace, and could recall many things about his life. He was pulled back into his body, and everything went black. For what my father told me, and my own experinces, yes, there is a life after this one. Honestly....Death is only the beginning.

 

[kenny]

This might sound pretty out there, but it's a thought process I've been toying with recently and trying to figure out an answer to. Energy is neither created nor destroyed. Our emotions, thoughts, feelings, mentality, our "souls" if you will are a form of energy.... they have to do something when we pass.............right??

Energy is never lost, even that which is stored in our bodies at death.
It goes into the insects and bacteria that eat us after death.

The matter that makes up our body holds energy.
I don't think emotions, thoughts, feelings, mentality, our "souls" are energy as defined by physics, which is measurable in units such as joules or calories.
I feel those things are all constructs of a living mind.
Ideas, if you will.

I'd say they are no more subject to the laws of physics (conservation of energy) than world peace.

 

[JewelFreak]

Evolutionary advantages are about what resulted in more successful reproduction.
After death there is no reproduction going on (well, before cryogenically frozen sperm and eggs) so I fail to see how evolution could have selected for any particular death experience.

Precisely, Kenny. Behaviors, whatever you call them, are selected for because they engender survival; the bearer of those then passes them to offspring. Feeling peaceful, experiencing light, at the moment of death, are not things that could be selected for, by definition. Ergo I think that theory doesn't hold water.

Jessie, your funeral home story is fascinating. You must be sensitive. I can believe it.

And Autumnnovember -- I read about that project when a number of hospitals started it, like putting a number on a shelf where it can only be seen from near the ceiling, etc. Haven't heard any more -- are there any reports on it? Or going to be?

--- Laurie

 

[charbie]

"Life is a school for angels. Love is the teacher, so do your homework without fear. Death is mearly graduation." -once found on my starbucks cup.

I work so frequently with death in my industry, its amazing for me to see the fear disappear from those who know they are going to die.

 

[Jessie702]

Yes, i am sensitive, but i truly believe that death is just the beginning, this life is so short, and is like a a blink of the eye.

Charbie, it must be nice to see that fear go away in people, im sure you help and touch a lot of people in your line of work. Its funny working in the funeral home, i found out that funerals are for the living, and it felt nice to help people through the hardest time of their lives, it must be so fulfilling to work and help people who are making the transition from life to death.

 

[lizzyann]

AN, thanks for posting this book. I am going to pick it up for myself and my parents.

I am going to share a little about myself here on a topic that I don't usually go into much detail on. It is still a fresh wound. I share this because it proves (to me) that people have energy that gets communicated whether alive or dead and it gives me comfort. My brother died suddenly at the age of 25 in 2008. When my brother passed away I was in Minneapolis for work. I was pregnant with my son at the time. I was in a meeting that morning when it happened, and I suddenly had a very strange feeling come over me. Something that I could not explain. Like a stillness, a quietness. I am usually very talkative and outgoing in meetings and it was like a switch had been flipped and I remember actually thinking to myself in the meeting that something was wrong. I was on my way to the airport to fly home after the meeting. I called my husband from the airport before I flew and he was very distant on the phone. Unknown by me, he was with my parents and knew that my brother had died. They did not want to tell me before I got on the plane because I was traveling by myself and wanted to tell me when I returned home. When my husband picked me up at the airport, I saw that my parents were also with him and I knew something was wrong. They told me the news. At the same hour that I had that feeling come over me in my meeting, my mother had just found my brother dead in his room.

Energy travels and in this case whether it was my mothers or my brothers, it traveled to me. I know not all people believe in this kind of thing, but after that happened to me, it gave me peace knowing that we can still communicate.

 

[lizzyann]

"Life is a school for angels. Love is the teacher, so do your homework without fear. Death is mearly graduation." -once found on my starbucks cup.

Thanks for posting this quote Charbie. It gives comfort.

 

[jstarfireb]

This might sound pretty out there, but it's a thought process I've been toying with recently and trying to figure out an answer to. Energy is neither created nor destroyed. Our emotions, thoughts, feelings, mentality, our "souls" if you will are a form of energy.... they have to do something when we pass.............right??

Energy is never lost, even that which is stored in our bodies at death.
It goes into the insects and bacteria that eat us after death.

The matter that makes up our body holds energy.
I don't think emotions, thoughts, feelings, mentality, our "souls" are energy as defined by physics, which is measurable in units such as joules or calories.
I feel those things are all constructs of a living mind.
Ideas, if you will.

I'd say they are no more subject to the laws of physics (conservation of energy) than world peace.

Kenny, as an existentialist, I agree with you 100%!

 

[kenny]

This might sound pretty out there, but it's a thought process I've been toying with recently and trying to figure out an answer to. Energy is neither created nor destroyed. Our emotions, thoughts, feelings, mentality, our "souls" if you will are a form of energy.... they have to do something when we pass.............right??

Energy is never lost, even that which is stored in our bodies at death.
It goes into the insects and bacteria that eat us after death.

The matter that makes up our body holds energy.
I don't think emotions, thoughts, feelings, mentality, our "souls" are energy as defined by physics, which is measurable in units such as joules or calories.
I feel those things are all constructs of a living mind.
Ideas, if you will.

I'd say they are no more subject to the laws of physics (conservation of energy) than world peace.

Kenny, as an existentialist, I agree with you 100%!

I don't know what that is.

But for me, what we are sure of is good enough.
For some reason I'm okay with unanswered questions.

 

[iLander]

@ jstarfireb & Kenny:

And as a Taoist, I agree with both of you (and since the Tao has been around for 1000's of years, I think you're all copying off me j/k ).

Taoists believe that you become part of the essence of life, the force that flows through all things. This force brought you into being and upon death, you are simply returning to it. There are many religious scholars that believe the Tao is the basis of much Christian philosophy. In the story of Jesus in the Bible, there is a gap of time when Jesus was believed to be in China, learning Taoism and confucianism

If you've heard the saying "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step", then you have a heard a phrase from the Tao. The golden rule is from the Tao, the concept of honoring your parents, I could go on and on. The Tao is basically a path of behavior that people follow. It's not to be confused with Zen, which is a series of koans or riddles. The Tao is very straightforward.

I follow the original Tao (in later dynasties it was corrupted and deities were added by an emperor, but that is neither here nor there) , from the original book, which is here:

http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Te-Ching-Lao-Tsu/dp/0679724346/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293677940&sr=8-1

I find it very comforting to skim through when I am down.

That's my 2 cents, anyway.

 

[jstarfireb]

One of my dearest friends is Taoist. She's white American, but she finds meaning and comfort in Chinese philosophy, so she studies the Tao and does Tai Chi/Qi Gong. There's a lot of wisdom in these old texts.

 

[Autumnovember]

When I was 9 years old I died right after surgery.I experienced all the things that people associate with a life after death experience.. Seeing myself from the top of the room while the doctors worked to bring me back,the white light,the choice to stay or come back,the love that you feel from those that have gone before you and their presence,the lack of time and space.I discuss this rarely and im not sure why im sharing it now with you, but it happens more then people think and there is a lot of research done on life after death experiences.Dr. Raymond Moody wrote the book Life after life and was one of the first people to seriously study the phenomenon.I thought i was the only one who this had happened to until i told my mother about the experience several years later as she was studying the topic.Death isn't the end and there is more to death then just dying.

Thank you for sharing that story---it mimics very much many of the cases discussed in that book. It is nice to know that there are others out there who enjoyed the book as much as I did!

 

[Autumnovember]

And Autumnnovember -- I read about that project when a number of hospitals started it, like putting a number on a shelf where it can only be seen from near the ceiling, etc. Haven't heard any more -- are there any reports on it? Or going to be?

--- Laurie

I heard about the study about a month ago and at the time they said that they would be collecting data and conducting these studies for the next year. The results are supposed to be presented by the end of 2011. I'm so interested in it...can't wait to hear more about it in the future.

Kenny--I watched the documentary tonight on Netflix, very fascinating from a scientific stand point...thank you for telling me about it!

Charbie--what a great quote!! I'm also interested in the stories people share regarding experiences with individuals who are close to death...the fear does disappear. I haven't seen it yet but I am sure that at some point during nursing school I will.

Lizzy--Thank you for sharing that. I very much believe that energy travels. When my friend passed away, his grandfather had a dream sometime during the same hour that my friend passed. In this "dream" my friend came to him and told him that everything was ok and he was fine, and not to worry. When he woke up...he was told the news. I don't believe these are just coincidences. There has to be something much more to it than that. Let me know what your thoughts are after you read the book, it gave me a nice sense of peace and I hope the same for you. My friend passed away in 2004...him and I haven't stopped communicating...

 

[kenny]

I know you were just dying to see it.
Hahaha.

 

[Autumnovember]

I know you were just dying to see it.
Hahaha.

Are you being sarcastic?! I called my friend after toy story on ice and told her I was coming over to watch it!!!! We both really liked it because we're both really interested in the topic.

p.s. I like documentary's a lot so if you have any other good ones to suggest, do tell.