I’ve reviewed, I think, three books on Near Death Experiences (NDE) and related topics. In response to the last review, a couple of people suggested the book After by Dr. Bruce Greyson, noting it was better and more recent. They were right on both counts.
This is the best book on the topic that I’ve found, and I recommend it to you, especially if you want to read just one book on the topic. The chapter organization is great and logical, the writing is vibrant and engaging, and the research on the topics benefits from all who have gone before.
First, let me remind everyone what NDEs are. They are experiences where the person has a significant medical emergency, often reaching a state of clinical death, but does not die. They come back with a story of glimpsing “the other side.” These experiences appear to be relatively common, and the experiences described have much in common. Age, background, and religious beliefs seem to have no effect on the details of the experiences reported.
So, what are the common elements of these experiences? An out-of-body experience, the feeling of peace, beauty, love, and a lack of pain or fear. Experiencers say that the whole experience is “outside of time.” Most regret that they were not able to “stay.” The exception to this is typically people with small children.
There is almost always the sensation of traveling through a dark tunnel with a bright light at the end. When approaching the light, experiencers describe being surrounded and warmed by the light and describing it as pure love.
Most experiencers say they saw “beings.” Sometimes family, sometimes religious figures, sometime strangers. And some describe more of an essence, than a physical being.
Less consistent, but still common, is what is called a “life review.” Yes, this is your life passing before you. Some describe viewing a time they treated someone poorly, from the viewpoint of the other person.
Are these hallucinations or dreams? Experiencers claim they are not. In fact, they typically describe the experience as more real than anything previously experienced, more real than their normal life experiences.
What is the lasting impact? Experiencers almost always lose their fear of death. Their values typically change, which can often change a person’s personality. That can sometimes cause problems in their relationships.
One of the most interesting scientific issues with NDEs is the question of whether the consciousness continues after death. Since science hasn’t determined what consciousness is, it is possible that consciousness is separate from the physical brain. The book refers to this as the mind and brain being separate things. After all, experiencers describe what happens in their period of unconsciousness in great detail, despite often showing no brain activity.
The author chose “After” as the title of his book because of NDEs hopefully providing some peek into the afterlife. But he also had in mind the significant changes in experiencers’ lives after an NDE. The author claims that most of us know someone who has had an NDE, they are that common. That may be true, but I’ve never had anyone tell me they have experienced an NDE. If you have, hit reply please and tell me your story! I hope the circumstances being portrayed in this book are factual because death seems pretty damn nice in these descriptions.
The real mystery here seems to be the question of whether the mind outlives our physical body. I used to think there was only one way to find out, but maybe there is a second way.
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