Several eminent psychiatrists from the middle of the 20th century have stumbled inadvertently into the spirit world in the course of their professional activity of dealing with clients with psychological disorders. The now celebrated Raymond Moody was among the earliest and coined the phrase Near Death Experience (NDE). In his book Life After Life ( 1975) which sold over 13 million copies, he presented the gist of his findings from 150 case studies he had the opportunity to research. His book then also inspired a movie of the same name winning an award in the New York Film Festival. The cases invariably revealed peaceful and painless transitions after death, the phenomenon of floating up to observe the body and those surrounding it, movement through a tunnel with radiant light at the other end, beings with glowing inner light, including deceased relatives and friends receiving the incoming soul, later encountering a powerful spiritual being which they identified differently, depending on their religious background, a life review exercise, and mostly a reluctance to return to complete the unfinished mission on the physical plane on account of the peace, tranquility, love and joy experienced on the spiritual plane. Moody as a professional psychiatrist remained sceptical as his later book The Last Laugh seemed to indicate, confusing his readers, till just a few years ago when he finally conceded that he no longer had any doubt of a life beyond death. He emerges on the internet’s You Tube interviews as a dynamic, genial and exuberant personality overwhelmed by the knowledge gained from his clients NDEs. There is also a Raymond Moody Institute on the internet to share his ideas on several related subjects.
Karl Schlotterbeck, another psychiatrist was on the other hand forced to concede reincarnation when his regression therapies, taking clients to their earliest childhood, produced unexpected past-life regressions. He averred that his goal in past-life therapies was always to provide ‘relief not belief. His book ‘ Living Your Past Lives (1987) also became a bestseller.
We then come across the now famous Brian Weiss who like the preceding two was a staunch professional psychiatrist with distinguished association with Columbia and Yale universities. However his professional amazing encounter with one Catherine in 1980, suffering from panic attacks and phobias proved conclusive in overcoming his scientific scepticism. Placed under hypnosis she informed him of the presence of his deceased father and infant son in the room as spirits, with the full background of their demise and also the several past lives she had lived. He avers that there was no way she could have had access to the information. Weiss went on to write his bestseller Many Lives Many Masters ( 1988 ) and became a celebrity interviewed by Oprah Winfrey. In addition to affirming reincarnation he also spoke of Master Spirits and their messages coming through the patient, regarding the purpose of life, planes of spiritual existence, divinity within us, the movement of spirits after death to their appropriate levels of comfort and experience, constant support by spirits for incarnated souls, growth of spirits in the spiritual realms, reincarnation in physical bodies being a critical process for spiritual growth, the body being a vehical for spiritual development.
We then come across the curious case of Eben Alexander an eminent American neurosurgeon who taught at Duke university, Havard medical School, University of Massachusetts and Virginia with impressive record of activity in the field. Alexander developed meningitis-induced coma in 2008 and survived against all odds to report his NDE during coma – the splendour beyond the grave with angel like beings. departed relatives, splendid scenic beauty, souls cavorting in the sky and souls dancing below with butterflies and waterfalls. Alexander before the coma was a thoroughly sceptical individual with no spiritual beliefs. He miraculously recovered when all had given up. What induced him to return was the intense love of his 10 -year-old son. After his recovery he was a totally transformed man. He now intends to spend the rest of his life investigating the nature of consciousness and communicating the results of his research to scientists and people at large. His book, just released, ‘Proof of Heaven’ has been on the New York Times’ bestseller list now for 35 weeks and he has a unique website on the internet devoted to his experience with video talks. Alexander has among others been interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and Larry King ( easily available on the internet for those interested).
All the persons mentioned above have met not only with criticism from the scientific establishment but ridicule for their ‘alarmingly unscientific’ approach to the subject as professional scientists.
The numerous NDE and Past life Regression cases researched by these psychiatrists take us, way beyond scriptural pronouncements, philosophical assumptions and scientific theorizing and hypothesis by some scientists ( branded as pseudo-scientists), in showing that a purposeful universe is attended by a realm of the spirit which is finally seeking, with caution, to reveal itself through the medium of Near Death Experiences and Past Life Regression.
One is also reminded by the furious media interest and millions of copies of the publications being sold, of the ever growing exponential interest among the masses all over the world on the subject, and of the prediction by James Redfield ( The Celestine Prophecy), Peter Russel (The Awakening Earth) and Lynne Mc Taggart (The Field) that a Consciousness Age and a Zero Point Age was now surely emerging in the 20th and 21st centuries moving us from an Information Age to a Consciousness Age of the spirit.
Indrajit,
It has to be stressed that this phenomenon is becoming well known by the men and women of the Earth for some reason. It is somewhat difficult to describe, but there is something about these experiences that has very, very high importance for humanity. One senses a spiritual breakthrough, a spiritual evolution if you will, is occurring on this planet. It is a movement that is impossible to underestimate and brings great hope and optimism to people everywhere.
Thank you,
Jerry
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Jerry
if you are interested in Science Fiction you could read Arthur C Clarke’s Childhood’s End which is a story of such a phenomenon striking earth – i was as moved as i am listening to organ music by Bach. Also you may like to see my post The Spirit and Science Fiction of some time ago.
Good wishes
Indrajit
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Hello Indrajit,
This post leads me to requestioning myself if I want to have more sureness about ‘life’ after death and if, the forms of it.
And I think I don’t.
I have peace with the fundamental uncertainty about this. It gives me positive drive to believe in ‘life before death’, which is already difficult enough 🙂
Futhermore the idea of ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’ as the all or whole by which we are connected by everything, for me personally is more inspiring than the ideas in many forms about in indiitidualistic souls. This as exchanged with you earlier.
Yesterday I was at the beautiful museum on the burial excavations of Puig de Molins on the isle of Ibiza in Spain. There were nice explanations of the thoughts about death and burial rites of three old mediterenean cultures, the Phoenician, Punic and Roman. I liked most the Phoenician thinking, that seas the body as a temporary living place of a general -not personal- ‘soul’.
So that was why they had burial rites based on very precise cremation, to free the ‘soul’ completely from the temporal bodies it inhabitates.
This fed my personal ideas of what I want what they do with my remaines after I died.
Can you tell me something about the main ideas of Hindu thinking about death and burial rites Indrajit? Is this maybe comparable to this Phoenician ideas?
Kindly regards, Mart.
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thanks Mart for visiting and our renewed dialogues which help one clarify thoughts even as one seeks to explain.
while i explore the lierature of paranormal ‘experiences’ i am inclined to feeling quite like you do – the New age concept of soul and after-life are at variance with the Hindu beliefs primarily because the soul is seen as fallible, ethereal but not that divine spark within us. I have yet to assimilate the New Age specultions and experiences and adjust them to my Hindu beliefs because there are serious contradictions.
Hindu ritual is like the Phoenician – the body when dead is not to be preserved or revered in any way – it is like a shell when the crustacean has gone and should be cremated so that its essence disperses into the four elements from which it arose – the ashes are then carried by the son in a moving ceremony, in a metal pot to the sacred river Ganges at Haridwar ( name of town means gateway to god) and emptied into the rushing waters of the river. – body to ashes – ashes dispersed in the waters ( dust to dust) – no Egyptian mummy to cling to.
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Thanks a lot for your explication of the hindu burial rituals.
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