Spirituality and Near Death Experiences

continued from my examiner column . . . http://www.examiner.com/interfaith-spirituality-in-columbus/spirituality-and-near-death-experiences

One researcher, Jeffrey Long, MD evaluated 1,300 near death experiences. He explains that, common to all is that: a) the heart stops; b) blood flow to the brain stops; c) the EEG is flat- ie. there is no brain activity which all constitute physical death. Yet, out of 613 subjects 74.4% experienced clear consciousness of the experience when brought back. Long identified 33 elements of a near death experience; being ‘out of body’ is common early in the experience. There is tremendous consistency in what subjects report: an enhanced feeling of peace, joy, love, and vision in 360 degrees; also a sense of oneness.

Consciousness appears to exist apart from the body. (Which is what Andrew Newberg, MD- a neuroscientist and others have also postulated). Ie. It is ‘non-local’ a term Larry Dossey, M.D. uses. There are other explanations for the experience which this doctor (and several others) have examined- such as hallucinations of a dying brain, dream-like memories etc. What blows these theories apart are the details patients can recall from above their bodies, being able to explain what was happening to them, describing serial numbers on the defibrillator, knowing what family members said in the cafeteria, being able to recount the entire scene from start to finish. [One of my dying patients would talk with her deceased mother, aunt and sister and then turn to her living spouse. She informed him a cousin had died within the last 3 days; he could read the obit in the paper; they just told her. There was no way she could have known this fact.]

Long reports that later in the near death experience other elements consistently observed include: experiencing passage in a tunnel, mystical light, unearthly beautiful realms, meeting deceased loved ones, a life review, music and the requirement that it wasn’t their time- they must return to the body. Following the experience, subjects had an increased belief in afterlife, reduced fear of death, they were less materialistic, they valued loving relationships and held an increased belief in ‘God’. The book 'Hello from Heaven' by Bill and Judy Guggenheim is based on 353 firsthand accounts of 'after death contacts'. The authors estimate at least 50 million Americans have experienced an 'after death' experience. The authors interviewed 2,000 people from all walks of life and collected more than 3,300 firsthand accounts.

Because of confidentiality, I won’t share the experiences countless others have confided, but one of my family members. My aunt went in for ‘same day surgery’ for a fractured wrist, but had difficulty coming out of anesthesia. They decided to keep her overnight at the (large area hospital which shall remain anonymous). During the night she coded, and (in spite of a DNR- do not resuscitate order) they resuscitated her. When we arrived to visit the following morning, expecting to take her home, we discovered she was in a different wing- ICU, and in-tubated. This was a surprise. The doctor and anesthesiologist were arguing. Mom, a BSN/RN nurse educator and former Director of Medical and Surgical nursing for a large Wisconsin hospital asked if my aunt had brain function. They affirmed that, ‘yes, they’d checked it all’ and quickly left.

My aunt later ‘came to’ and showed signs of wanting the tube out by hand gestures. I explained that there was a question whether she would breathe on her own or not. Mom ordered the disconnect, matter-of-factly. My aunt was able to breathe on her own. As my aunt was able to express herself further, she complained of a sore throat and painful chest and ribs. A nurse confirmed that this often happens when people are revived. This was our first indication of what had actually happened, what mom certainly surmised. My aunt said that yes, she knew she had coded because she saw the whole thing from up near the ceiling where she was hovering. It was peaceful there and she was bathed in incredible light and love. She described the lead crash cart doctor. Interested in more?

Watch Jeffrey Long, MD in his presentation to the New York Academy of Sciences June 2010 copyrighted and presented in this video by the Nour Foundation.:

http://www.nourfoundation.com/media-gallery/videos/Shifting-Realities-Myths-Models-and-Morality/The-Contingent-Nature-of-Reality/Life-Death-and-the-Pursuit-of-Morality/Jeffrey-Long-MD.html

'Death is simply a shedding of the physical body like the butterfly shedding its cocoon. It is a transition to a higher state of consciousness where you continue to perceive, to understand, to laugh, and to be able to grow.' Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D.

[artwork is called, Ascent of the Blessed and is by medieval artist Hieronymous Bosch. This is in the Doge's Palace in Venice and is a fragment of a triptych.]

copyright, 2010, Patricia A. Rodemann