We’ve all heard the cliché, “Nobody’s ever come back from death to tell us about it, so there’s no proof that the soul lives on.” But that’s not true. Countless people have had near-death experiences and communication with departed loved ones, and there are hundreds of books on the subject. A Gallup poll reports that between 72% and 83% of Americans believe in Heaven, 21% communicate mentally with someone who has died, 78% believe in angels and 20% believe in reincarnation. Some reports indicate that between 5% and 30% of people have had near-death experiences. When you consider how many people that is (and the numbers are likely to be much higher than surveys actually record), there’s actually more proof in favor of a world beyond the body than against it.
I began receiving “interdimensional” messages from my son less than an hour after his death. These dialogs continue to this day, and they guide the work I’m now doing as an author and spiritual teacher. I’m certain that the conversations he and I had about death during the last years of his life are what made this possible. We looked at death a certain way and it became our reality. The way we perceive death is a choice. If we believe in hell and judgment, we will carry that belief to our deaths and to the deaths of our loved ones, and the death experience will be filled with stress and fear. If we believe that death is the continuation of a rich, expansive journey, then the experience can be understood and enlightening for everyone involved.
Most urban Americans never see a dead body unless it’s embalmed and dressed up for a funeral. But in many other cultures and in rural communities, people are exposed to death throughout their lives. In countries suffering from war or famine, in tribal societies, in cultures that accept death and in places where people live close to the land, death is neither hidden nor sanitized.
During my childhood, when an aged relative died, the younger children weren’t allowed to go to the funerals because the adults thought it would be too upsetting. When I became a mother I could see the flaw in this logic, and true to my role as the black sheep of the family, I encouraged my adult siblings and cousins to take their little ones to these funerals, recognizing these events as opportunities to teach children about the cycles of life and death. My family’s preference for avoidance and suppression did more to create fear and superstition in the children than to protect them from it.
It’s probably fair to say that most people view death in one of these three ways:
- Heaven and Hell
We have one life to live on earth but our souls live on after death, and if we follow the rules of our culture and our religion, we will be rewarded after death with a conflict-free eternity, recognized by our god and our peers as a good or righteous person. If we don’t follow these rules, we will be judged for our sins and sentenced to an eternity in a place of terror from which there is no return or redemption. When dying or grieving, this view leaves us terrified that we may have failed in life, and gives no reason for our experiences on earth other than an ultimate reward or punishment after death.
- There is nothing beyond physical existence
This view holds that there is no such thing as a non-physical world. When we die, our bodies decompose and we’re gone forever. There is no soul or spirit, and no afterlife. The physical body is all there is, and after it dies, there is nothing left. A lifetime of achievements, relationships, growth experiences and creations remains frozen in time, because this one lifetime was our only encounter with existence. When dying or grieving, this view leaves us feeling utterly abandoned as victims of random chaos in a finite system. It also exacerbates the feeling of permanent loss for the bereaved, making the grief process more difficult.
- The soul lives on for the exclusive purpose of growth and awakening
The soul continues to broadcast its energy after the body dies. It moves along its journey, sometimes embodied during incarnations and at other times disembodied, continuing its work from non-physical realms. The soul lives on as part of the human panorama, but in an unseen dimension. When dying or grieving, this view gives purpose to one’s life on earth, and provides limitless opportunities for expansion, correction and creation, no matter how short or how tragic the current physical life might have been.
Whatever your belief system may be, the ideas you absorbed as a child were handed down by your family, your culture, your social circle and your religion (your tribe). This includes information gleaned from television, movies, books, art, educational institutions and other sources. But as you evolved as an individual and were exposed to new information, you used your free will and critical thinking skills to blend new ideas with your childhood beliefs, thus creating your own personal theology. When I was a child, my tribe told me that God punishes bad people and rewards good people. Observation, education and experience eventually showed me that this wasn’t true, and I gradually moved out of that belief. It’s an evolutionary process in which we choose to keep some ideas and reject others according to where we are along our spiritual paths. But in the beginning of each earthly incarnation, these beliefs are given to us according to tribal beliefs. The fear of death–which for many people translates into the fear of judgment and punishment–is one of those beliefs.
As an Atheist the last sixty five of my 87 year old life I don`t believe in the religious concept of there being souls, nor do I believe there is a “afterlife.” As to “near death experiences” I note that all of those that in all those that I`ve read about everyone appears to have gone to heaven instead of hell. And they report seeing loved ones who have pre-deceased them. All these reports seem based on what we all seen in books & films describing afterlife. I`d like to hear from someone who “near” died and met Joe Jones who died in 1811 in France, not somebody they knew. Also would love to hear from a “near” death experience where they went to hell.
As for communication with a dead loved one… well the mind is capable of all kinds of ways of convincing us that something is happening that really is not.
All in all though a well written and interesting article. Thank you Ms. Daniel
Bernie — The reason all of those books and films describe the afterlife in a similar way is because people who experience it have many commonalities in their reports. I’ve had conversations with people of all faith backgrounds (and no faith background) who had near-death experiences and all reported very similar things — the two common factors in all were an indescribable sense of peace and seeing dead relatives.
Kevin, I was referring to books and films that have been around for years, long before people suddenly started having “near death” episodes. Did any of those you talked to go to Hell or meet people they didn`t know on earth? My wife died of Covid last December and I see her face every time I close my eyes but so far no conversations and I don`t expect any. She`s gone and I miss her but I know I`ll never see her again. Again, I believe our brains are very capable of making us believe things that are not real and didn`t happen.
Thanks for your feedback but as you can see I remain unconvinced.
Bernie – People have been having near-death experiences a lot longer than film. Those stories are what inspired those books and films. None of the people I spoke with reported going to hell, but I’m not surprised because it doesn’t exist, at least not in the way fundamental Christianity portrays. That was an invention of the church, first mentioned at least 200 years after Jesus’ crucifixion. I’m curious as to why it’s important to you that people meet people they didn’t know. I can only assume they do so eventually, but the people I spoke with only died for a few minutes (that why they call it “near” death). It seems perfectly reasonable to me that my relatives would be the first in line to welcome me. Yes, our brains are capable of all kinds of imaginary “realities” but that doesn’t explain all near-death experiences. Check out Eben Alexander if you want to read about it from an atheist neurosurgeon’s perspective. He’s also on YouTube. I’m not here to convince you of anything. I can only share my experiences and direct you to some resources if you’re interested.
I believe that humans are just like every other animal on the planet. When the body stops, you stop. In my world it’s best to know this. However, I don’t mind other opinions being voiced.
Mike — Whether it’s humans or any other animal, how do we know that when the body stops, everything stops? Many religions assert that animals have souls/spirits. There are many stories of people who die and come back to report that they not only saw their dead relatives but also childhood pets. You might be interested in Eben Alexander’s book, “Proof of Heaven.” I don’t like the title, but it’s a compelling account of an atheist neuroscientist who has a near-death experience.
My belief is that we live in a physical world and that we are physical parts of it. We like our life and can’t believe there’d be and end to it, but that is simply a result of being a living being and not being able to realize how much of it goes on without us.
On the other hand I’m not dismissive of life and what it offers to the universe. So far earthly life is all we know of, and the intelligent life that we offer, we just don’t know of it happening anywhere but here.
Yes, we want to stay alive beyond our bodies but the simple truth is – we are our bodies and we suffer the same fate they do. Of course I could be wrong, but I think science agrees with me.
Quantum physics tells us that nothing ever “dies” it just changes form. Our bodies consist of physical matter that is recycled. Our brains are electro-chemical factories that generate electrical impulses easily measured on an electroencephalogram (EEG), which are routinely used to determine whether a person is considered medically brain dead. Whatever your beliefs are about consciousness (spirit, soul, whatever), there is no evidence to indicate that is simply ends. However, the fact that even the electrical impulses generated during dreams is evidence that there is *something* there, and it seems to be backed up at least anecdotally by hundreds if not thousands of stories of near-death experiences. I’m an ordained chaplain but I’m also a technical writer with over 30 years’ experience sifting through “evidence” of various kinds. From that perspective, there seems to be more evidence to indicate that consciousness continues than not.
Hello Bernie!
The primary problem with discussions about the afterlife is the assumption that it’s tied to religion. But one doesn’t have to be religious to believe that consciousness survives physical death. Out-of-body experiences (deathbed visions, NDEs, lucid dreaming, shamanic journeys, etc.) can all exist without a religious context. If we strip away the religious dogma and doctrine, we’re left with something that all the ancients — throughout history and across cultures — have understood, regardless of their cultural and religious references.
Even though I’m a trained theologian, a hospice chaplain and a seminary professor, I am 100% NON-religious. I actually disdain religion, but I don’t call myself an “atheist” because that term is very vague. If it means that we don’t embrace the Judeo-Christian image of god, then, yes, I’m atheist. But if it means we believe we are only physical machines and there is only a physical, empirical universe, then I would not consider myself an atheist.
Also, regarding people going to “hell” in NDEs, there are many accounts of people having a hell-ish experience. That is because in all NDEs, we carry our life experiences with us, and when we are just inside the threshold of the other side, these experiences are still present, and they have to be processed. Many people who’ve had a lifetime of trauma, especially if they’ve held toxic religious beliefs (such as a belief in hell) will have that type of experience.
Here are some useful resources:
. A physician comments on NDEs: https://afterlifeconference.com/articles/facts-about-near-death-experience/
. An Episcopal bishop talking about the non-existence of hell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF6I5VSZVqc
. A hospice physician discussing his research on deathbed visions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dpgVYquv9M
. A book called The Atheist Afterlife by David Staume. You can find it on Amazon.
“Near Death” experiences are just that – these people ALMOST died, but not really. Death is not a finite line – it’s a process. It seems clear to me that there is cellular activity or some time after we are capable of measuring it. For example, there are many reports of people who were clinically dead for several minutes who accurately reported things that were said in the room during that period. Thus, though clinically dead, they received and recorded sound and retained linguistic ability to understand those sounds. But afterlife? Harry Houdini, who desperately wanted to find a medium he couldn’t expose was never able to. He also promised his wife that if there was an afterlife and any way he could make his presence known to her he would do so. She never heard from him after he died.
>> there seems to be more evidence to indicate that consciousness continues than not.<< Of course!
If only we could determine whether someone is really most sincerely dead. There’s never a Munchkin coroner around when you need one.
“Clinically dead” is an interesting term in itself. When I was working as a chaplain in a hospital emergency department, I learned that many deaths from head injuries are actually caused by brain swelling rather than from the injury itself, so head injury patients are immediately given a drug that minimizes that swelling. However, that drug also interferes with EEG readings, so the patient is sent from the ER to ICU ($7000/day minimum), sometimes simply because they have to wait for the drug to wear off before they can declare the patient brain dead. In many cases, everyone in the ER knows from the beginning that the injury was fatal, but hospital policy overrules the obvious, often mainly to avoid lawsuits from family members.
What exactly is the medical definition of a “near death experience”, or is there one? If your brain is still receiving oxygenated blood, I would think it is “alive”. If it does not receive blood for five minutes, most of us are declared clinically brain dead. So I suppose these near death experiences are occurring in that brief window. So any notions I may have of heaven, hell or deceased family members must be generated when I am alive. Near-death experiences sound a lot like dreams to me.
Terri’s viewpoint and opinions, provocative as they may to people who don’t share them, I believe , support the goal of The Good Death Society:
“The blog’s purpose is to discuss a wide range of right-to-die issues…” My personal beliefs are science-based. But I enjoy learning what others think and why. As Virginia Satir wrote, ‘We get together on the basis of our similarities; we grow on the basis of our differences.”
I have learned that whatever people believe, they are exactly where they need to be given their level of experience, and I do not try to interfere with their journey.
There is some excellent medical research being done of this Frederick, primarily by Dr. Sam Parnia in the new, emerging field of “resuscitation medicine.” Here is a great NPR interview with him: https://www.npr.org/2013/02/21/172495667/resuscitation-experiences-and-erasing-death
The ability to create out of body experiences, similar to the reported experiences of people with near death experiences, by electrically stimulating the angular gyrus of the brain (Dr. Bruce Greyson), does not prove that there is not a world or consciousness beyond the physical brain, but it does give another explanation of near death experience more in line with science and the laws of nature we trust to be true and follow in every day life.
Fair point. Although I don’t see anything about near-death experiences (or the idea that consciousness continues in some form) does not align with science and the laws of nature. We consist of electrical and chemical energy. The chemical energy is recycled when the body decomposes. The electrical energy has to go somewhere or be transformed into something — we just don’t have the tools to measure it. There is nothing “supernatural” about it because it’s all natural.
An astrophysicist once told my church men’s group: “Since nobody has produced hard scientific evidence, believers and atheists are actually agnostics but just don’t know it.”
I only read this second part of the two part blog today, and while I know that these kinds of articles are of enormous interest to many people, and it is great if they can find material as well written as these two articles, I would hate to see the blog of Final Exit Network have many more articles that do not reflect the values and beliefs of the organization. There are dozens of books and articles on people’s opinions and beliefs about souls after death, but our organization has a mission to “educate qualified individuals in practical , peaceful ways to end their lives, offer a compassionate bedside presence, and defend their right to choose.” People who want to explore life after death have a wealth of information to draw from, public and private, but those who are suffering irremediably and who wish to know their options for ending their suffering have much less access to information. Personally, I hope our blog and our materials focus on support to those individuals.
What may happen after we die is a matter for speculation and hope. We all need to be concerned with how we die and how to defend our choices and desires for a peaceful, dignified end.