“Death is just a transition from one life to another, a change from old clothes to new ones.” (Bhagavad Gita, from the epic Mahabharata)(jcomments on)
Clinical death - stories.
Clinical death as a transition period between life and death is becoming more common in the modern world. This is due to the use of modern resuscitation methods, people began to survive more often. Doctors admit that clinical death is still a mystery to them. Experts do not have a consensus on what is actually happening to a person at this time. Particularly fierce debate arises around the so-called “post-mortem experience,” which some people experience at the moment of clinical death. They started talking about this phenomenon in 1976 after the publication of Dr. Raymond Moody’s book “Life After Life.”
Alan Rickler, 17 years old.
Died of leukemia. “I saw the doctors enter the room, with them my grandmother in the same robe and cap as everyone else. At first I was glad that she came to visit me, and then I remembered that she had already died. And I became scared. Then some strange figure in black came in... I started crying... my grandmother said, “Don’t be afraid, it’s not the time yet,” and then I woke up.”
Igor Goryunov - 15 years old; Polytechnic student.
- The guys arrived in the evening. They asked me to remove the earring from my ear. I didn't take it off. They beat me. I fainted. Then they found me. The doctors said that I was dead. I remember being in a dark well. First it flew down, and then up. I saw a bright light. Emptiness. I woke up with chest pain.
Pensioner from Novosibirsk Alexey Efremov, who received extensive burns, underwent several skin grafting operations. During one of them, his heart stopped. Doctors managed to bring the man out of the state of clinical death only after 35 minutes - a unique case, since it is known that under normal conditions the period of clinical death in a person is 3-6 minutes. This is followed by irreversible changes in the brain. However, Alexey Efremov did not experience such changes. He thinks clearly and clearly.
Movement through a dark tunnel and a bright light at the end are images that, thanks to Moody’s book, the whole world learned about, Tibetan mystics would explain it as a transition to another reality of the posthumous world and a subsequent meeting with the “absolute secondary light.” Moody describes this phenomenon as follows: “This occurs immediately after death and lasts up to several hours. At this time, the most vivid and memorable visions are celebrated. Consciousness finds itself in conditions that are unusual for it.” Following Moody's testimony, we can give them several characteristics.
Adriana. 28 years.
“When the light appeared, he immediately asked me a question: “Have you been useful in this life?” And suddenly pictures flashed. "What is this?" – I thought, because everything happened unexpectedly. I found myself in my childhood. Then it went year after year through my entire life from early childhood to the present. The scenes that appeared before me were so vivid! It’s as if you’re looking at them from the outside and seeing them in three-dimensional space and color. In addition, the paintings were moving. When I “looked” through the paintings, there was practically no light visible. He disappeared as soon as he asked what I had done in life. And yet I felt his presence, he guided me in this “viewing”, sometimes noting certain events. He tried to emphasize something in each of these scenes. Especially the importance of love. In moments when this was most clearly visible, such as in communication with my sister. He seemed to take an interest in matters related to knowledge. Every time, noting events related to the teaching, he “said” that I should continue to study and that when he comes for me again (by this time I already realized that I would return back to life), I should still have a desire for knowledge . He spoke of knowledge as a constant process, and I had the impression that this process would continue after death.”
Maria 24 years old
“I died on September 22, 2000 on the operating table. The doctors hit my lungs and I died for 2.5 minutes. During these minutes... In short, I later told the doctors in detail in the intensive care unit what was happening while they were pumping me out, everything, down to the smallest details, they were horrified... But I was above them and saw everything... Then a push in the back and I flew through the tunnel, although I had a “cord” sticking out of my umbilical cord…. Approaching the light, I felt incredible pain in the sternum and I woke up. I’m not afraid of death, absolutely, it’s better there than here, that’s for sure.”
The Dutch determined signs of clinical death and calculated the frequency of their occurrence.
So, more than half of the patients in the group (56 percent) experienced positive emotions during clinical death. In 50 percent of cases, awareness of the fact of one’s own death occurs. Meetings with deceased people occur in 32 percent of cases. 31 percent of those who die report traveling through a tunnel. 29 percent observe pictures of starry landscapes. 24 percent see themselves from the outside. 23 percent of respondents observe dazzling light, the same number of people - bright colors. 13 percent of patients see flashing pictures of their past lives, and, finally, 8 percent of them say that they clearly saw the famous border between the world of the living and the dead. No one in the control group reported feeling unpleasant or frightening. It is also impressive that people who were blind from birth talk about visual impressions, repeating word for word the stories of sighted people. How were people blind from birth able to describe in detail what they saw in the operating room at the time of their “death.” However, this is a fact - a survey of more than 200 blind women and men conducted by Dr. Kennett Ring from the USA proves this.
Today, many scientists are inclined to think that after physical death, a person’s consciousness remains. One of the leading doctors at Southampton Hospital, Sam Parnia, says: “There is no doubt that in some people, while the brain has ceased to function, clear thought processes and the ability to think and remember continue.” According to Dr. Parnia and his colleagues, the mind, or soul, continues to think and reflect, “even if the patient’s heart has stopped, he is not breathing, and his brain has stopped working.”
The ability to return back to the material world.
“The human soul is immortal. All her hopes and aspirations are transferred to another world” (Plato).
Different people described the process of returning to the physical body in different ways, and they also explained in different ways why this happened. Many simply said that they did not know how or why they returned and could only guess. Some thought that the deciding factor was their own decision to return to earthly life. Here's how one person described it:
“I was outside of my physical body and felt I had to make a decision. I understood that I could not stay close to my body for a long time - this is difficult to explain to others. I had to decide on something - either move away from here or go back. Now this may seem strange to many, but partly I wanted to stay. So, I thought and decided: “I need to return to life,” and after that I woke up in my physical body.”
Suicides.
Here are a few contemporary stories that illustrate the otherworldly state of suicide. One man who loved his wife dearly committed suicide when she died. He hoped to be united with her forever. However, it turned out to be completely different. When the doctor managed to resuscitate him, he said: “I ended up in a completely different place from where she was. It was some kind of terrible place. And I immediately realized that I had made a huge mistake" (Raymond A. Moody, MD, Life after Life, Bantam Books, NY 1978, p. 143).
Some suicides who were brought back to life described that after death they found themselves in some kind of dungeon and felt that they would remain here for a very long time. They realized that this was their punishment for violating the established law, according to which every person must endure a certain share of sorrows. Having voluntarily thrown off the burden placed on them, they must bear even more in the other world.
One day, at the age of seven, driven to despair by her parents, the girl threw herself head down and broke her head. During clinical death, her soul saw familiar children surrounding her lifeless body. Suddenly a bright light shone around, from which an unknown voice said to her: “You made a mistake. Your life does not belong to you, and you must return."
The border between the world of the dead and the living.
“Socrates was once asked where he was from. He did not answer: “From Athens,” but said: “From the Universe” (from Michel Montaigne’s “Experiences”)
Up to 8% of people who went through clinical death found themselves on the border between the world of the living and the dead. What kind of border is this?
The idea that water separates the earthly world from the afterlife and serves as a boundary that the soul overcomes on its way to the “other” world is known to many peoples. For example, the indigenous people in the Vologda province. They believed that the soul, on the fortieth day after death, crosses the Forget River and forgets everything that happened to it in this world. Those who cross the border completely lose their memory. A very common practice is to leave money to the deceased (a bribe to the ferryman). In Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro, the deceased was also given a coin so that he had something to “pay for the crossing to the island of the blessed.” The border itself is a sacred place and full of danger due to the presence of creatures who do not obey any laws and do not serve either “white” or “black”.
What does it say about death? Bible?
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being” (Gen. 2:1). As you can see, a person consists of dust and divine breath (soul).
The most famous statement is that after death people do not disappear but are transferred to other worlds - these are heaven and hell. In these “worlds” the human soul remains after physical death. People usually get there based on “merit” in material life. “Say to the children of Israel, If a man or a woman commits any sin against another, and thereby commits an offense against the Lord, that soul will be guilty...” (Numbers 5:6).
At the moment of death, according to the Bible, “his spirit departs, and he returns to his own land” (Psalm 145:4). “And the dust will return to the earth as it was; and the spirit will return to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
What does it say about death? Koran?
The Qur'an mentions death 164 times, which shows the importance attached to this issue in Islam. We will limit ourselves to citing only a few of them:
“Say: “Verily, the death from which you are fleeing will certainly overtake you. And then you will be resurrected and returned to the Almighty - the One who knows about the secret and the obvious, and, truly, in the next world you will be informed about what you did on earth, and you will be responsible for all your deeds” (Sura Al-Jumu 'a', verse 8).
“...And life in this world is just a deceptive pleasure” (Surah Alu ‘Imran, verse 185).
The Koran mentions the so-called Angels of Death:
“Say: “Your souls will be separated by the angel of death, who is entrusted with taking your souls, and after death you will be resurrected and return to your Lord” (Surat As-Sajda, verse 11).
The process of leaving the body.
“When the soul, leaving the body, comes up to the throat, and those next to the dying person say: “Who can save him and who can keep him alive?!”, then it will become clear to him that the time has come to part with this world. The hardships of this worldly life will converge with the hardships of the hereafter, and on that day his soul will be driven to your Lord" (Sura Al-Qiyama, verses 26-30). 
Here's another description:
“It’s very difficult to talk about working in the spiritual world. It is distributed among everyone depending on the progress made by the individual. If the soul comes directly from Earth or from another material world, then it must realize its past errors in order to achieve perfection here. Music is one of the greatest engines of progress in the afterlife.
Here everyone has the opportunity to enjoy peace. Some people prefer to communicate with nature. Every home is an oasis. The other world is not only picturesque landscapes, but also pretty houses inhabited by wonderful, kind, beautiful people who experience joy and bliss simply from the fact that they live in such a wonderful place. Yes, that's great! No earthly mind can comprehend the miracle that this world gives us. The colors are so refined, and relationships in everyday life are much warmer.”
Another story:
“In this wonderful place there were colors, bright colors, but not like on earth, but completely indescribable. There were people there, happy people... whole groups of people. Some of them were studying something. In the distance I saw a city with buildings in it. They sparkled brightly. Happy people, sparkling water, fountains... it seems to me that it was a city of light in which beautiful music sounded. But I think that if I entered this city, I would never return... I was told that if I went there, I would not be able to return back... and that the decision was mine.”
Descriptions of the state of consciousness after clinical death.
“The soul is not part of one specific body and can be found in one body or another” (Giordano Bruno)
“I had an accident and from that time on I lost the sense of time and the sense of physical reality in relation to my body. My essence, or my Self, seemed to come out of my body... it resembled a certain charge, but it felt like something real. It was small in volume and was perceived as a ball with unclear boundaries. It looked as if it had a shell... and felt very light... The most amazing of all the experiences I had was the moment when my essence stopped over my physical body, as if deciding whether to leave it or return back. It seemed as if the passage of time had changed. At the beginning of the accident and after it, everything happened unusually quickly, but at the moment of the accident itself, when my essence seemed to be above my body and the car was flying over the embankment, it seemed that all this happened for quite a long time before the car fell to the ground. I watched everything that was happening as if from the outside, not tying myself to the physical body and existed only in my consciousness.”
Description of our world through the eyes of the deceased.
"People sleep; when they die, they wake up." (Muhammad)
Personally, I found it interesting to see the description of the material world (our world) by one of the survivors of clinical death.
Andrey is 32 years old.
“No prerequisites, no disasters, no serious illnesses, I just realized that in 20 minutes I would die. I was serving in the army then. This awareness brought peace and tranquility, even pleasant joy. I went to the shower and cleaned up my body, knowing that it was necessary. Then he tidied up his uniform. He found a secluded place, lay down on the couch, and closed his eyes. The countdown has begun. The heart was counting, this was the only sound that was heard. The speed of my heartbeat slowed down, I began to count the last beats, and here was the last blow of the gong, which was already very distant and dull.
Failure into darkness and complete lack of perception. Then again enlightenment, everything seems to be the same, I just see through the walls and ceiling, I understand that I am no longer lying, I looked around, and it is so, the body is lying as I laid it. hands neatly folded, cap on top. Looks quite dead. This is my body, but it’s already kind of unnecessary.
I looked up and saw the sky through the ceiling and roof. (it was about 20 00; autumn). The sky opened and I saw the light. I'm going there. He began to rise, passed through the window without obstacles and then higher and higher. No body, no weight. Consciousness is so open that everything is perceived directly, there are no logical chains, direct perception, there is no time.
An uncontrollable craving for the light, the closer to it, the happier, there are no words to find here, there are no thoughts as such in the usual earthly understanding, there is simply perception. Life is remembered all at once and without a temporal context.
A creature is moving towards me. I can't say who, man or woman. And it doesn't matter. This is yours. Just deep kinship and acceptance. It stopped me. I feel anxious. There's something wrong with the body. I looked back and saw my friend walking towards the room where I left the body. Clear thought, he's a nuisance. I see him enter the room. I try to shout out, but in vain. His words sound (he addresses the body) as if underwater. I turn to the one who met,
One feeling question: WHY?
Answer: EARLY.
I'm spinning, everything goes out, shrinks into a ball of dirt, everything is clogged, pain in my chest, an explosion of inhalation. The cold, cramped body began to breathe, the consciousness was dim, everything was visible as through cloudy glass, the colors were faded. Cold meat of a former corpse. It’s as tight as in a wet rubber spacesuit. Crazy gravity. It seems like hell, deep under the wet ground.
The heart accelerates, becomes warmer, the blood brings living warmth with each wave. The world is expanding, the chest is shaking with bellows. My head becomes clearer, but I understand that perception will be curtailed. I move my clumsy body, so much effort, it’s still heavy. I opened my eyes, there was a transom, a trap, the world was drawn flat, all the colors were faded. I want to tear off the veil. In vain, he waved his hand to tear off the canvas, the problem was that the hand was also drawn.
Possibilities of consciousness after death.
“I am sure that I am the same one who has already lived thousands of times before you and will live thousands of times again” (Johann Wolfgang Goethe)
When we enter another world, we become pure consciousness and many of the limitations of the material world no longer apply to us:
1. Feelings and emotions become more intense.
2. The ability to fly and move over long distances in a split second.
3. You can walk through walls.
4. Our thoughts play a decisive role in the new world. The idea becomes clearer and quickly implemented.
5. The sense of time is lost. There is a feeling of complete lack of time.
6. In a short period of time (if the body is not badly damaged), you can still decide to go back. Some people come back that way.
7. If you are drawn into the underground worlds, resist it. It's within your power. You can move to another place for example.
8. The ability to completely modify your body.
“Things that were impossible in the physical world became possible. And it was nice. My consciousness could perceive all phenomena at once, and immediately resolve questions that arose, without returning again and again to the same thing.”
Results.
So, a huge number of sources claim (including personal examples) that life after the death of the physical body not only does not end, but also takes us to a new level of understanding of the world. Different and different people talk about approximately the same thing, and in religious teachings there is a common opinion about the afterlife.
Vadim DERUZHINSKY
“Analytical newspaper “Secret Research”, No. 23, 2015
Every now and then articles appear in the press on the topic of near-death experiences in a state of clinical death. Some scientists believe that this proves “life after death,” while others do not agree with such conclusions.
Recently, another article on this topic appeared in the media under the sensational title “Life after death exists, scientists finally say.” It states:
“Scientists have finally proven what mystics, religions, spiritual writings have been saying for many years - life after death exists. In the largest medical study of near-death and out-of-body experiences in history, scientists have documented that consciousness persists after the body completely shuts down or dies.
Scientists from the University of Southampton spent four years studying more than 2,000 people who suffered cardiac arrest in 15 hospitals in the UK, US and Austria. And they found that almost 40 percent of people experienced what could be described as some kind of "awareness" during the time they were clinically dead before their hearts resumed beating. One person even fully remembered leaving his body and looking at his intensive care unit from the corner of the room. Despite being unconscious and "dead" for three minutes, the 57-year-old social worker from Southampton described the actions of medical staff in detail and described the sound of the machines.
"We know that the brain can't function when the heart stops beating," said Dr. Sam Parnia, a former postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southampton now at the State University of New York who led the study. “But in this case, it turns out that awareness continued to function for up to three minutes during the period when the heart was not beating, although the brain usually turns off within 20-30 seconds after the heart stops.” The man described everything that happened in the room, but most importantly, he heard two short electronic sounds of a machine that creates noise during a three-minute interval. In this way we were able to determine how long the experience lasted. Everything he said actually happened to him.”
Of the 2,060 cardiac arrest patients studied, 330 survived. And 140 of them (39 percent) said they experienced some kind of “lucidity” while being resuscitated. One in five said they felt unusually calm, while nearly a third indicated that time either slowed down or sped up. Some recalled seeing a bright light; golden flash or sunshine. Others reported feelings of fear or drowning, or being dragged through deep water. 13 percent said they felt separated from their bodies, and the same number of patients said they felt "flying."
Dr Parnia believes many other people may have near-death experiences, but the drugs or sedatives used during the resuscitation process may block them from being remembered. “Research shows that millions of people experience vivid experiences as they approach death, but the scientific evidence is mixed at best. Many believe these are hallucinations or illusions, but they seem to correspond to real events. Many people may have vivid experiences of death but do not remember them due to the effects of traumatic brain injury or sedatives affecting memory. These experiences require further investigation."
PARADOXES
There are several aspects to this topic that seem paradoxical. Firstly, the very expression “life after death” is strange. After all, if life continues after death, then it turns out that there was no death! But if there was death, then there can be no life after it: for something that is dead and dead cannot be alive.
Secondly, the term “clinical death” is clearly unfortunate and confuses not only ordinary people, but also venerable scientists. Death is actually the beginning of irreversible phenomena of destruction of the body (rotting, decay, specific chemical reactions, devouring of flesh by intestinal bacteria, division of blood into fractions, rigor mortis of muscles, and much more). And if this is not the case, then there can be no talk of any death.
The state of “clinical death” is sometimes difficult to distinguish from a coma (especially a vampiric coma), and a person can remain in a coma for years and even decades. And what’s most interesting is that a comatose vampire easily “leaves the body” and appears as a ghost. However, this does not at all prove “life after death,” that is, that a comatose vampire will continue to live after the death of his body. But it’s strange: official science does not consider vampirism a “scientifically proven phenomenon,” but other scientists recognize it as something much stranger and unscientific—“life after death.” Paradox!
Thirdly: let us assume that consciousness in one form or another continues to live after the death (complete destruction) of our biological shell. But this cannot be called the term “life,” which has a very narrow and specific meaning: the organization of molecules into a body, the maintenance of vital functions, and the reproduction of cells. “Pure consciousness” has none of this. The whole paradox of the situation becomes simply glaring if you look at artificial intelligence, the work on the creation of which is in full swing in science today. After all, what is artificial intelligence? Is this also Life? No. This is pure computer science, without the presence of an organism (or, more precisely, with a virtual organism, if it is a “copy and likeness” of us - and according to the Bible, we ourselves are a “copy and likeness” of God).
Artificial intelligence absolutely does not fit the definition of “life”; it is something completely different – a “subjectively existing UNDEAD”, a person without a biological carrier (body). And in this case, our consciousness that exists after the death of the body is the same UNLIVING as artificial intelligence.
But here another – already the fourth – paradox arises. In order for artificial intelligence to receive signals from the outside world, it needs adapter organs: for example, a camera that converts a light image into information signals that it can understand. That is, you need a camera, you need a program for converting an image into a certain code, you need artificial intelligence to have a program for understanding these signals, etc., which is analogous to our vision (a highly complex system of vision, recognition, recognition, comprehension, and so on).
However, patients who have experienced a “near-death experience” say that they floated in the air and saw all sorts of details as if from the outside - which shocks scientists. The question arises: with what organ of perception did “pure consciousness” see and hear something? It is clear that not with eyes and not with ears, which a person without a body or without a body does not have. The only rational and materialistic conclusion - “pure consciousness” is connected to the hypothetical computer science of our matter. (This hypothesis, by the way, also explains the poltergeist phenomenon.)
But even in this case, such anomalous manifestations are not at all proof of the existence of the afterlife of our consciousness. For the body is not yet dead, but quite alive.
But real proof of “life after death” would be different. If some dead body with traces of rotting, decomposition and other things suddenly began to recover and return to life. And although science fiction writers love to discuss this topic (for example, “Pet Sematary” by Stephen King), neither science, nor our history, nor folklore, nor even ancient mythology knows anything like this - not a single example. Because if something is dead, then it cannot become alive again, this is the LAW OF THE UNIVERSE.
The fifth paradox is that it is generally impossible to say in relation to consciousness that it “lives and exists.” The fact is that we spend a third of our lives sleeping. What is actually the state of death - if we call “life after death” the hypothetical existence of consciousness after the death of the body. From this point of view, every day, when we go to bed, we actually “die”, and then every morning we “resurrect”. And if we call the activity of our consciousness and us as individuals “life,” then a third of our life, from this position, we are DEAD. Moreover, science is still far from understanding what sleep is and why it is needed at all. And the Bible adds to the fog, where it repeats: “death is the sleep of reason.” What this expression means is difficult to understand, since we do not even know what a dream is.
People say: “I’m 30 years old” or “I’m 60 years old.” In fact, the person actually lived only 20 years in the first case and 40 years in the second. And the rest of the time he was “dead” as a person, as a subject of the Universe. I didn’t think about anything, didn’t do anything, didn’t think about anything. Maximum - I saw dreams, but they occupy only a small part of the dream, and they, of course, cannot be called “existence”, since there is no activity of the subject in the Universe.
Hence the paradox: the body is completely alive during sleep and carries out active work (for example, continues to digest food, does something as part of self-tuning, treatment, etc.) - but consciousness is “DEAD”. If the hypothetical existence of consciousness after the death of the body is called “life after death,” then in this case it is “death during life.”
The sixth paradox (and probably one of the main ones) in this topic concerns the state of consciousness itself. In old age, the brain wears out, people become stupid, become senile, suffer from Alzheimer's disease, and so on. It would seem that if consciousness can continue to exist after death, then it cannot bear traces of the rottenness of the biological shell.
Alas! Just as some senile person had a near-death experience due to old age, he remained a senile person after it. The problem is also from a theological point of view - who in the Next World needs millions of senile consciousnesses-personalities that have survived from their minds? And from a scientific point of view: consciousness, as it turns out, is not something “autonomous” at all, but a product of the work of the brain: what is the state of the brain, so is consciousness. Which already refutes the judgments of other scientists about the very possibility of the life of consciousness after the death of the body, since consciousness turns out to be absolutely linked to the brain, the product of its activity.
The other side of the issue is children who died during abortions or in infancy. According to demographers, about 75 billion people have lived and are living now over the past 40 thousand years. So, according to scientists, about a third to 40% of deaths in the history of Human Civilization relate to infant mortality. But what kind of “consciousness” can a victim of abortion or a baby who died at 6 months or 2 years have? None.
However, since scientists talk about the possibility of life of consciousness after the death of the body, then how and where to place this minimum third of our dead? The paradox here is that personality (consciousness) is formed in a person only from 2-3 years of age. It turns out that this is not something “objective” and “a separate subject of the Universe”, but just a product of our life activity.
Theology also avoids these same questions as “inconvenient.” It seems that there is an active fight against abortion - they say, “you kill your soul when you have an abortion.” Although if the soul is immortal, how can it be killed? And the most incomprehensible thing: what are about 25 billion souls of abortion victims and babies who have not even learned to speak doing in the next world?
Finally, the seventh paradox. Okay, each of us was not a person until some degree of growing up from a stupid baby into an understanding child. But what is 9 months in the mother's womb? This can be called life only in terms of the origin of the organism. But neither the sperm nor the embryo had any consciousness, which in the uterus was not a subject, because it was NOT EVEN BORN YET! But who is this embryo then?
Even in this matter we have accepted conventions. My mother came for an ultrasound, the doctors looked at it - it was a boy, the parents said - let's call him something like that. That is, HE ALREADY IS, but at the same time it is as if he is not there.
They will write down “then he was born,” although he already existed before that, they saw him on an ultrasound, his parents came up with a name for him. Doctors say: “your child sucks his finger in the womb,” mother: “kicks in the stomach.” But these 9 months are not considered part of our life. It turns out that the concepts of “born” and “age” do not coincide for all of us. We were before birth.
I cite this not so much as an example of the conventionality of our ideas on this topic, but as an example of the general instability of all our views on the fundamental issues of the Universe. We cannot yet understand even the main thing: what Life is and what Death is.
ON THE WAY TO IMMORTALITY
Unfortunately, today the vast majority of scientists are far from a clear picture on this topic. Since the time of Lenin and the classics of scientific materialism, the whole problem has been perceived only in the form of two alternative possibilities. The first is that, they say, the soul exists (the opinions of such scientists are given at the beginning of this article). The second is that if there is no soul, then we ourselves will invent immortality. At the same time, simply stupid statements are often made.
For example, in 2009, the Pravda newspaper interviewed Professor Alexander Aleksandrovich Bolonkin (born 1933), Doctor of Technical Sciences. He immigrated to the United States in 1987, worked for NASA, and is the author of “more than 170 scientific papers and books and 17 patented inventions, many of which are classified.” The newspaper presented this interview as an incredible sensation entitled “I have found a method to make people immortal.” In fact, what the professor tells his communist readers is simply shame and disgrace for a scientist.
He says:
“The biggest dream of my life is to find and give immortality to people. And I’m glad that I managed to find a method to do this, however, for our children and future generations. Briefly the essence of the idea and method. I show that the core essence, personality or soul of a person is the information stored in his brain. If we manage to write it down and insert it into a new active personality or, as I call it, an E-being, then we will continue its existence indefinitely.”
This is a typical misconception. In fact, a COPY of your consciousness is not IMMORTALITY for you. There are copies of your consciousness somewhere else or not - they are just copies, and NOT YOU if you are no longer there.
The fact of the matter is that consciousness is UNIQUE and ONLY, it is not a set of information (that can be copied), but a set of personal transformers of information - that is, a “mechanism”, not a “product”. And if you reproduce the same “mechanism”, then it will be a container for your consciousness, which is already different from you. That even you can be called a “copy” only conditionally.
And based on this, in scientific terms the task should be posed completely differently: not to copy consciousness (which is meaningless and impossible), but to ensure the immortal operation of the blocks that generate consciousness. Which is fundamentally different. Since 1998, our newspaper has been offering this technology: connecting electronic memory units to the brain and gradually transferring consciousness increasingly to electronic media throughout one’s life. Theoretically, after brain death, in this case, the main part of the personality will continue to exist on electronic memory units.
“An E-being can have a mechanical body, and then it will not need food, air, shelter; will be able to live in space, the ocean, have any appearance, teleport with a laser beam to other planets, will be indestructible by any weapon, because a copy of itself can be stored in a warehouse and restored at any time.”
As for copies, it has already been said above: consciousness is not a set of information, but a unique system for transforming information. The professor apparently never played electronic games: who needs game saves if the game itself is destroyed? And it’s only the game save that can be “teleported with a laser beam to other planets,” but the computer as a carrier for the program and launching the save cannot be sent there with a laser! But the analogue of our consciousness is precisely a computer, and not some kind of save.
The professor ends like this:
“The main problem is how to rewrite information from the brain into electronic chips? I propose to do this simply - to record all the information entering the human brain.
Glasses are already being sold that record everything a person sees, hears and says. To this you can add sensors that record his emotions. For the soul to be complete, such a recording must be made from childhood. Middle-aged people can partially reconstruct an already lived part of their life through memories, photographs and documents.”
This is not serious at all. Consciousness is not a mechanical collection of information coming from outside, especially since such information is not recorded anywhere in consciousness. Consciousness works completely differently: based on accumulated experience and other factors, we uniquely EVALUATE the information coming from the senses, transforming it into IMAGES. And these images fit into the system of our consciousness, where they are then used as elements of thinking.
I would like to ask the question: in what way is the professor going to “rewrite” the images? Not only can they be recognized and recorded only with the help of another human consciousness (which is already a disaster for the professor’s project), but in this case these images will be assimilated into the system of experience of a different consciousness - that is, as subjects of a different personality (which is generally a complete cross on the project).
For clarity, a simple example (and no recording glasses are needed): let a million people read the novel “War and Peace” or watch with their own eyes the events in the film adaptation of the novel - but each of the million will have their own personal impression, although it seems like “everyone received the same information "
THE MAIN PARADOX OF THE TOPIC
But, apparently, everything may turn out to be completely different from what both believers in the soul and materialists expect. It is possible that the world is structured differently: there really is a certain “soul” as the organizer of the work of consciousness - and then it is unlikely that experiments on transferring consciousness to an electronic medium will be possible. But at the same time, this “soul” is not immortal at all, but is part of the integral work of our body and dies with the death of the body.
This option “cuts off” two hopes for the immortality of consciousness at once: both the mechanistic-materialistic one and the biblical one. Moreover, the Bible speaks precisely about the mortality of the soul, and Christ is valuable to us because he promised to resurrect everyone BODY - which is absurd if the soul is immortal.
The main paradox may lie in the fact that in the Universe there is no concept of “Life” at all, since everything that exists is a huge living Organism and a Unified Consciousness. That is, in the Existing One, initially, by definition, there is nothing dead, and we all, including the stars and planets, are only elements of the existence of some Superpersonality (or, if you like, a Superprogram or Supernature), its temporary incarnations. In this case, the biblical judgment about death as a state of sleep makes sense: nothing dies, since everything that exists in itself is eternal as a part of a huge whole, “a part of God.”
But this is, so to speak, an epochal view of things, where the topic appears in a global philosophical sense. But each of us, first of all, understands it purely narrowly - as the continuity of our personal today’s “I”. And, I draw your attention, supporters of the afterlife of the soul are not inspired by Professor A. Bolonkin’s concept about some kind of “copies of consciousness” - even if scientists restore them, even if they live in the Other World. Give us exactly CONTINUITY in the form of a “soul flying away at death” somewhere.
The clear desire for this continuity was the very essence of Christianity for more than 1500 years, when the bodies of the dead were stored in boxes (coffins) around churches, which were located in the center of settlements - so that Christ would not have problems resurrecting them. Which of the dead is richer and more honorable - his coffin is in the church itself, the common people are around in mass earthen warehouses. A kind of “spaceship to immortality,” where the marker for immortality was a dead body awaiting resurrection. This concept (which is understandable) came into conflict with the concept of the life of the soul immediately after death in some other world, so a number of Christian movements received permission to cremate the body, which destroyed the “marker” and, as it were, did not allow Christ to physically resurrect the deceased. But all this was accompanied for centuries by a mass of theological disputes, the essence of which has always been unchanged - the CONTINUITY of the afterlife as our earthly life.
But let's look at things from the outside. What is human consciousness anyway? There, “from the individual” it’s 10 percent, or even a percent. The rest is this consciousness as only part of the general (mass) consciousness of the society of its era. Including your social norms, rules, stereotypes of behavior and perception of reality.
LIFE OF A NAZI IN THE NEXT WORLD
Let’s say today Jesus or some professor comes and says: we are resurrecting the dead in the 8th century - half a million to begin with. Resurrected. What's next? They live in their 8th century - should we degrade to their society? And if we mix with them, we will slow down our development. Moreover, 80% of them will generally be unable to adapt to a different life.
Here's a more terrible picture: let's bring back to life all those who died in World War II. The point is not even that tens of millions of Nazis, Stalinists, fascists, communists will immediately plunge the world into a world war again. But the fact is that their consciousnesses are part of their dead society - and they have no place in other societies. In Germany, for example, no one today needs 10 million resurrected Nazis, who have Hitler as a leader hammered into their heads. But if they are not needed even in Germany, then even more so they are not needed either in Belarus or in the Other World.
That is why, in fact, I don’t want to believe in life after death - so that the Other World does not turn out to be a collection of dead SOCIUMS with their primitive social phases of development of savages and marginals, dead for us living, with all sorts of afterlife leaders and Fuhrers.
From here the thought inevitably creeps in: since the soul of a German Nazi is immortal, then it is not necessary to send it to hell (which makes no sense, since a Nazi is only a victim of his society and his media), but his consciousness-soul must be “cleaned up.” Okay, let's clean it up. What will we remove from his memory that shapes his worldview and consciousness on a social and personal level? Let's poke here, poke here - it turns out that we need to delete all his memory that he lived in the Third Reich, was in the Hitler Youth, then served in the structures of the Reich, read newspapers, listened to speeches, did something within the framework of his society. What remains of the individual? I brushed my teeth, had a wife and children, went fishing on vacation, and drank beer with friends. In fact, this “erasure of memory” is the complete destruction of him as a person. And what remains after “cleaning up” is unlikely to be of value even for the subject himself. Which is no longer a personality, and not consciousness, but a vegetable.
It is foolish to believe that someone in the next world still wears the uniform of the SS or NKVD. But maybe at least some small “piece of soul” has immortality - as if freed from the delusions of the era and its society? However, it cannot contain the memory of the life it has lived (which, as shown above, must be “erased”). This means there is no personality. It turns out that the personality does not have its own afterlife. Because a person is only a mirror of the society of his era.
And one last thing. Let's assume a Miracle: since 2016, no one else on Earth has died. Another option: scientists write quite seriously that from 2050 people will live indefinitely – thanks to the advances of medicine. Seems like a good thing? But what about the problem of changing phases of the evolution of society? This means the conservation of the development of Humanity, the eternal power of presidents and oligarchs, the impossibility of something new. Stagnation.
It seems humane - everyone lives forever. But in reality, it’s like a cancerous tumor with decay and subsequent death of Humanity. Here is another aspect of the topic - to see us as a Single Organism, where old tissues die off quite rationally and new ones appear in their place.
...I tried to show that this very topic of “life after death” is much broader than some narrow judgments of certain scientists, but in general it is fundamental for us and concerns both the Universe and our current ideas about it. And our ideas today about what Man is, who we are and what our current society is.
What do readers think?
Stories from patients who have experienced clinical death evoke mixed reactions in people. Some such cases inspire optimism and belief in the immortality of the soul. Others try to explain mystical visions rationally, reducing them to hallucinations. What actually happens to the human consciousness during the five minutes when resuscitators work magic on the body?
In this article
Eyewitness stories
Not all scientists are convinced that after the death of the physical body our existence completely ceases. Increasingly, there are researchers who want to prove (perhaps primarily to themselves) that after bodily death, a person’s consciousness continues to live. The first serious research on this topic was carried out in the 70s of the 20th century by Raymond Moody, author of the book “Life after Death”. But even now the area of near-death experiences is of considerable interest to scientists and physicians.
Renowned cardiologist Moritz Rawlings
The professor in his book “Beyond the Threshold of Death” raised questions about the work of consciousness at the moment of clinical death. As a renowned specialist in the field of cardiology, Rawlings has cataloged many stories from patients who have experienced temporary cardiac arrest.
Afterword by Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose)
One day, Moritz Rawlings, bringing a patient back to life, massaged his chest. The man regained consciousness for a moment and asked not to stop. The doctor was surprised, since cardiac massage is a rather painful procedure. It was clear that the patient was experiencing genuine fear. "I'm in hell!" - the man shouted and begged to continue the massage, fearing that his heart would stop and he would have to return to that terrible place.
The resuscitation ended in success, and the man told what horrors he had to see during cardiac arrest. The torment he experienced completely changed his worldview, and he decided to turn to religion. The patient never wanted to go to hell again and was ready to radically change his lifestyle.
This episode prompted the professor to start recording the stories of patients whom he had rescued from the clutches of death. According to Rawlings' observations, about 50% of the patients surveyed experienced clinical death in a beautiful corner of paradise, from where they did not want to return to the real world.
The experience of the other half is completely opposite. Their near-death images were associated with torment and pain. The space where the souls found themselves was inhabited by terrible creatures. These cruel creatures literally tormented sinners, forcing them to experience incredible suffering. After returning to life, such patients had one desire - to do everything possible to never go to hell again.
Stories from the Russian press
Newspapers have repeatedly addressed the topic of out-of-body experiences of people who have experienced clinical death. Among the many stories, one can note the case of Galina Lagoda, who was the victim of a car accident.
It was a miracle that the woman did not die on the spot. Doctors diagnosed numerous fractures and tissue rupture in the kidneys and lungs. The brain was injured, the heart stopped and the pressure dropped to zero.
According to Galina’s recollections, the emptiness of endless space first appeared before her eyes. After some time, she found herself standing on a platform filled with unearthly light. The woman saw a man in white robes that emitted a glow. Apparently, due to the bright light, the face of this creature was impossible to see.
The man asked what brought her here. To this Galina said that she was very tired and would like to rest. The man listened to the answer with understanding and allowed her to stay here for a while, and then told her to go back, since there was a lot of work awaiting her in the world of the living.
When Galina Lagoda returned to consciousness, she had an amazing gift. While examining her fractures, she suddenly asked the orthopedic doctor about his stomach. The doctor was taken aback by the question because he was really bothered by stomach pain.
Now Galina is a healer of people, because she can see diseases and bring healing. After returning from the other world, she calmly regards death and believes in the eternal existence of the soul.
Another incident occurred with reserve major Yuri Burkov. He himself does not like these memories, and journalists learned the story from his wife Lyudmila. Having fallen from a great height, Yuri seriously damaged his spine. He was taken to the hospital unconscious with a traumatic brain injury. In addition, Yuri's heart stopped and his body went into a coma.
The wife was acutely worried about these events. After getting stressed, she lost her keys. And when Yuri came to his senses, he asked Lyudmila if she had found them, after which he advised them to look under the stairs.
Yuri admitted to his wife that during the coma he flew in the form of a small cloud and could be next to her. He also talked about another world, where he met his deceased parents and brother. There he realized that people do not die, but simply live in a different form.
Born again. Documentary film about Galina Lagoda and other famous people who experienced clinical death:
Skeptics' opinion
There will always be people who do not accept such stories as an argument for the existence of an afterlife. All these pictures of heaven and hell, according to skeptics, are produced by a fading brain. And the specific content depends on the information given during life by religion, parents, and the media.
Utilitarian explanation
Consider the point of view of a person who does not believe in an afterlife. This is Russian resuscitator Nikolai Gubin. As a practicing doctor, Nikolai is firmly convinced that the patient’s visions during clinical death are nothing more than the consequences of toxic psychosis. Images associated with leaving the body, the view of a tunnel, are a kind of dream, a hallucination, which is caused by oxygen starvation of the visual part of the brain. The field of view narrows sharply, creating the impression of a limited space in the form of a tunnel.
Russian doctor Nikolai Gubin believes that all visions of people at the moment of clinical death are hallucinations of a fading brain.
Gubin also tried to explain why at the moment of dying a person’s whole life passes before his eyes. The resuscitator believes that memory of different periods is stored in different parts of the brain. First, cells with fresh memories fail, and at the very end - with memories of early childhood. The process of restoring memory cells occurs in the reverse order: first, the earlier memory is returned, and then the later one. This creates the illusion of a chronological film.
Another explanation
Psychologist Pyell Watson has his own theory about what people see when their body dies. He firmly believes that the end and beginning of life are interconnected. In a sense, death closes the circle of life, connecting with birth.
Watson means that a person's birth is an experience of which he has little memory. However, this memory is stored in his subconscious and is activated at the moment of death. The tunnel that the dying person sees is the birth canal through which the fetus emerged from the mother's womb. The psychologist believes that this is a rather difficult experience for the baby’s psyche. Essentially, this is our first encounter with death.
The psychologist says that no one knows exactly how a newborn perceives the birth process. Perhaps these experiences are similar to different phases of dying. The tunnel, the light are just echoes. These impressions are simply resurrected in the consciousness of the dying person, of course, colored by personal experience and beliefs.
Interesting cases and evidence of eternal life
There are many stories that baffle modern scientists. Perhaps they cannot be considered unconditional evidence of an afterlife. However, it cannot be ignored either, because these cases are documented and require serious research.
Imperishable Buddhist monks
Doctors confirm the fact of death based on the cessation of respiratory function and heart function. They call this condition clinical death. It is believed that if the body is not resuscitated within five minutes, then irreversible changes occur in the brain and here medicine is powerless.
However, in the Buddhist tradition there is such a phenomenon. A highly spiritual monk can, entering a state of deep meditation, stop breathing and the work of the heart. Such monks retired to caves and there entered a special state in the lotus position. Legends claim that they can come back to life, but such cases are unknown to official science.
The body of Dasha-Dorzho Itigelov remained incorrupt after 75 years.
Nevertheless, in the East there are such incorruptible monks, whose withered bodies exist for decades without undergoing destruction processes. At the same time, their nails and hair grow, and their biofield power is higher than that of an ordinary living person. Such monks were found on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand, China, and Tibet.
In 1927, the Buryat lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov passed away. He gathered his disciples, assumed the lotus position and told them to recite a prayer for the dead. Going into nirvana, he promised that his body would remain intact after 75 years. All life processes stopped, after which the llama was buried in a cedar cube without changing its position.
After 75 years, the sarcophagus was brought to the surface and placed in the Ivolginsky datsan. As Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov predicted, his body remained incorrupt.
Forgotten tennis shoe
In one of the US hospitals there was a case with a young emigrant from South America named Maria.
During her exit from her body, Maria noticed someone had forgotten a tennis shoe.
During clinical death, the woman experienced leaving her physical body and flew a little along the hospital corridors. During her out-of-body journey, she noticed a tennis shoe lying on the stairs.
Upon returning to the real world, Maria asked the nurse to check if there was a lost shoe on those stairs. And it turned out that Maria’s story turned out to be true, although the patient had never been to that place.
Polka dot dress and broken cup
Another fantastic case occurred with a Russian woman who suffered cardiac arrest during surgery. Doctors managed to bring the patient back to life.
Later, the woman told the doctor what she experienced during clinical death. Coming out of her body, the woman saw herself on the operating table. The thought came into her head that she might die here, but she didn’t even have time to say goodbye to her family. This thought mobilized the patient to rush to her home.
There was her little daughter, her mother and a neighbor who came to visit and brought her daughter a polka dot dress. They sat and drank tea. Someone dropped and broke the cup. To this, the neighbor remarked that it was good luck.
Later, the doctor spoke with the patient's mother. And in fact, on the day of the operation, a neighbor came to visit, and she brought a polka dot dress. And then the cup also broke. As it turned out, fortunately, because the patient was on the mend.
Napoleon's signature
This story may be a legend. It seems too fantastic. This happened in France in 1821. Napoleon died in exile on the island of Saint Helena. The French throne was occupied by Louis XVIII.
The news of Bonaparte's death made the king think. That night he could not sleep. The candles dimly lit the bedroom. On the table lay the marriage contract of Marshal Auguste Marmont. Napoleon was supposed to sign the document, but the former emperor did not have time to do this due to military turmoil.
At exactly midnight the city clock struck and the bedroom door opened. Bonaparte himself stood on the threshold. He walked proudly across the room, sat down at the table and took the pen in his hand. From surprise, the new king fainted. And when he came to his senses in the morning, he was surprised to find Napoleon’s signature on the document. Experts confirmed the authenticity of the handwriting.
Return from another world
Based on the stories of returning patients, we can get an idea of what happens at the moment of dying.
Researcher Raymond Moody systematized the experiences of people in the stage of clinical death. He was able to identify the following general points:
- Stopping the physiological functions of the body. In this case, the patient even hears the doctor stating the fact that the heart and breathing are turned off.
- Review your entire life.
- Humming sounds that increase in volume.
- Leaving the body, traveling through a long tunnel, at the end of which there is light.
- Arriving at a place filled with radiant light.
- Peace, extraordinary spiritual comfort.
- Meeting with people who have passed away. As a rule, these are relatives or close friends.
- Meeting with a being from whom light and love emanate. Perhaps this is a person's guardian angel.
- A pronounced reluctance to return to your physical body.
In this video, Sergei Sklyar talks about returning from the other world:
The secret of the dark and light worlds
Those who happened to visit the zone of Light returned to the real world in a state of goodness and peace. They are no longer bothered by the fear of death. Those who saw the Dark Worlds were amazed by the terrible pictures and for a long time could not forget the horror and pain they had to experience.
These cases suggest that religious beliefs about the afterlife coincide with the experiences of patients who have been beyond death. Above is paradise, or the Kingdom of Heaven. Hell, or the Underworld, awaits the soul below.
What is heaven like?
The famous American actress Sharon Stone was convinced from personal experience of the existence of heaven. She shared her experiences during the Oprah Winfrey TV show on May 27, 2004. After the magnetic resonance imaging procedure, Stone lost consciousness for several minutes. According to her, this condition resembled fainting.
During this period, she found herself in a space with soft white light. There she was met by people who were no longer alive: deceased relatives, friends, good acquaintances. The actress realized that these were kindred spirits who were glad to see her in that world.
Sharon Stone is absolutely sure that she was able to visit heaven for a short time, the feeling of love, happiness, grace and pure joy was so great.
An interesting experience is that of Betty Maltz, who, based on her experiences, wrote the book “I Saw Eternity.” The place where she ended up during her clinical death had fabulous beauty. There were magnificent green hills and wonderful trees and flowers growing there.
Betty found herself in an amazingly beautiful place.
The sun was not visible in the sky in that world, but the entire surrounding area was filled with shining divine light. Walking next to Betty was a tall young man dressed in loose white clothes. Betty realized that this was an angel. Then they approached a tall silver building from which beautiful melodious voices were heard. They repeated the word “Jesus.”
When the angel opened the gate, a bright light poured onto Betty, which is difficult to describe in words. And then the woman realized that this light, bringing love, is Jesus. Then Betty remembered her father, who prayed for her return. She turned back and walked down the hill, and soon woke up in her human body.
Journey to Hell - facts, stories, real cases
It is not always that leaving the body takes a person’s soul into the space of Divine light and love. Some describe their experiences quite negatively.
The abyss behind the white wall
Jennifer Perez was 15 years old when she visited hell. There was an endless wall of sterile white. The wall was very high and there was a door in it. Jennifer tried to open it, but was unsuccessful. Soon the girl saw another door, it was black, and the lock was open. But even the sight of this door caused inexplicable horror.
The angel Gabriel appeared nearby. He grabbed her wrist tightly and led her to the back door. Jennifer begged to let her go, tried to break free, but to no avail. Darkness awaited them outside the door. The girl began to fall rapidly.
Having survived the horror of the fall, she barely came to her senses. There was an unbearable heat here, which made me painfully thirsty. All around the devils were mocking human souls in every possible way. Jennifer turned to Gabriel with a prayer to give her water. The angel looked at her intently and suddenly announced that she was being given another chance. After these words, the girl’s soul returned to her body.
Hellish heat
Bill Wyss also describes hell as a real inferno, where the disembodied soul suffers from the heat. There is a feeling of wild weakness and complete powerlessness. According to Bill, it didn’t immediately dawn on him where his soul ended up. But when four terrible demons approached, everything became clear to the man. The air smelled of gray and burnt leather.
Many describe hell as a realm of burning fire.
The demons began to torment the man with their claws. It’s strange that no blood flowed from the wounds, but the pain was monstrous. Bill somehow understood how these monsters felt. They exuded hatred towards God and all God's creatures.
Bill also remembered that in hell he was tormented by unbearable thirst. However, there was no one to ask for water. Bill lost all hope of deliverance, but the nightmare suddenly stopped, and Bill woke up in a hospital room. But his stay in the hellish heat was vividly remembered by him.
fiery hell
Thomas Welch from Oregon was among the people who managed to return to this world after clinical death. He was an assistant engineer at a sawmill. While carrying out construction work, Thomas stumbled and fell from the walkway into the river, hitting his head and losing consciousness. While they were looking for him, Welch experienced a strange vision.
A boundless ocean of fire stretched out before him. The spectacle was impressive, a power emanating from it that inspired horror and amazement. There was no one in this burning element; Thomas himself stood on the shore, where many people had gathered. Among them, Welch recognized his school friend, who died of childhood cancer.
The crowd was in a state of stupor. They seemed to not understand why they were in this frightening place. Then it dawned on Thomas that he, along with the others, was placed in a special prison, from which it was impossible to leave, because fire was spreading all around.
Out of despair, Thomas Welch thought about his past life, wrong actions and mistakes. Unwittingly he turned to God with a prayer for salvation. And then he saw Jesus Christ walking by. Welch was embarrassed to ask for help, but Jesus seemed to sense it and turned around. It was this look that made Thomas wake up in his physical body. Sawmill workers stood nearby and rescued him from the river.
When the heart stops
Pastor Kenneth Hagin from Texas became a priest thanks to the experience of clinical death, which overtook him on April 21, 1933. He was under 16 years old at the time and suffered from congenital heart disease.
On this day, Kenneth's heart stopped and his soul fluttered out of his body. But her path did not lie towards heaven, but in the opposite direction. Kenneth was plunging into the abyss. There was pitch darkness all around. As he moved down, Kenneth began to feel a heat that apparently came from hell. Then he found himself on the road. A shapeless mass consisting of flames was approaching him. It was as if she was drawing her soul inside herself.
The heat covered Kenneth completely, and he found himself in some kind of hole. At this time, the teenager clearly heard the voice of God. Yes, the voice of the Creator himself sounded in hell! It spread throughout the entire space, shaking it like the wind shaking leaves. Kenneth focused on this sound, and suddenly a certain force tore him out of the darkness and began to lift him upward. Soon he woke up in his bed and saw his grandmother, who was very happy, because she no longer hoped to see him alive. After this, Kenneth decided to devote his life to serving God.
Conclusion
So, according to eyewitness accounts, after the death of a person, both heaven and the abyss of hell can await. You can believe it or not believe it. One conclusion definitely suggests itself - a person will have to answer for his actions. Even if hell and heaven do not exist, human memories exist. And it is better if, after a person passes away, a good memory of him remains.
Most people, having reached a certain age, begin to think about the questions of whether there is an afterlife, how our dead live. Most religions preach another world where a person is freed from all troubles and worries, but in order to get a place in Eden, it is necessary to earn it by pious behavior in earthly life. After atheism began to lose ground in recent decades, unconventional scientists have proven that the afterlife exists. What happens on the other side of visibility and what gave rise to such conclusions?
Is there an afterlife: evidence
Many seers (Vangelia Gushterov - Vanga, Grigory Rasputin - Novykh, the Tanzanian boy Sheikh Sharif) had no doubt about the existence of the other world and that each person has his own place there. Direct evidence of the posthumous existence of real, historical figures (mainly the Virgin Mary) can be considered Fatima Miracles (1915-1917) and Lourdes healings . Some scientists who adhere to an atheistic worldview answer the question in the affirmative to the question of whether there is an afterlife, the evidence of which in most cases is indirect.
Academician neurophysiologist N.P. Bekhterev , whose very profession does not accept any mysticism, in her autobiographical memoirs says that the ghost of her late husband repeatedly appeared to her. At the same time, her husband, who also worked in the field of medical physiology, consulted with her about problems that had not been resolved during her life. If initially night meetings with a ghost caused concern in the woman, then after his appearance in the daytime, all fears disappeared. Natalya Petrovna did not doubt the reality of what was happening.
Famous American visionary Edgar Cayce , putting himself into a somnambulistic state, made about 25 thousand predictions, in one of which he indicated the time of his death with an accuracy of an hour. When diagnosing diseases, E. Cayce achieved an accuracy of 80% - 100%. He was deeply confident about his reincarnation and reappearance in a different form.
Some researchers, based on real events, events and phenomena, read as an indisputable fact that scientists have proven that the afterlife exists. However, contact with the other world is possible only for certain individuals - “conductors”: individuals who are in a stressful or borderline state, or people with extrasensory abilities.
The latest evidence of the existence of an afterlife can be considered the search for resident of Novosibirsk M.L. Babushkina the graves of his father, who died during the Great Patriotic War. Maria Lazarevna found his burial as part of the “Search” group. At the same time, according to the expedition members, she indicated the resting place with amazing accuracy. In an interview with television M.L. Babushkina quite convincingly explained to the correspondents that the searchers were led to the grave of her father by his voice, and he also indicated, with an accuracy of up to a meter, the location of the remains of the front-line soldier.
Similar cases have been repeatedly reported by search participants. expeditions from Novgorod . According to their reports, the souls of front-line soldiers who are not properly calmed down contact lone searchers and report the coordinates of the burial. The largest number of contacts with representatives of the afterlife was noted in one of their tracts Myasnogo Bor (Death Valley), where in 1942 the 2nd Shock Army was surrounded by the Nazis, most of the soldiers and officers died trying to break through the encirclement.
Visions of the other world
- Galina Lagoda from Kaliningrad during clinical death, while on the operating table, she met a stranger in a white robe, who said that she had not completed her earthly mission, and to complete it, he gave the deceased the gift of foresight.
- Yuri Burkov after cardiac arrest, he did not lose contact with the outside world, and after returning to life, the first thing he did was ask his wife if she had found the lost keys, which the panicked woman did not tell anyone about. A few years later, while with his wife at the bedside of his sick son, whom doctors had given a fatal diagnosis, he predicted that his son would not die now and that he would be given a year to live - the prediction came true with absolute accuracy.
- Anna R. During clinical death, she observed a dazzlingly bright light and a corridor leading to infinity, into which the deceased was not allowed to enter by successfully carried out resuscitation procedures.
Saints, prophets and martyrs, who with sufficient accuracy predict not only global world events, but also the future of a particular person, can be spoken of as real facts. This gives reason to believe that the afterlife exists, and how our dead live in it remains unknown to those inhabiting the material world. This knowledge is beyond human understanding, and only isolated cases remind us of the other world.
Probably every person at least once in his life wondered whether there is an afterlife after death or whether the soul dies along with the body. Many people are afraid of death, and this is largely due to the unknown that lies ahead. Thanks to the achievements of modern medicine, resuscitation of the dead is not uncommon, so it has become possible to find out the feelings of people who returned from the other world.
Is there an afterlife?
According to numerous testimonies of people who experienced clinical death, it was possible to calculate a certain scenario. First, the soul leaves the body and at this moment the person sees himself from the outside, which causes a state of shock. Many noted that they felt incredible lightness and peace. As for the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, some actually saw it. After its passage, the soul meets with relatives or with an inexplicable light creature that evokes warmth and love. It is worth noting that not many were able to see such a wonderful future afterlife, so some people ended up in creepy places where they saw disgusting and aggressive creatures.
Many people who died after clinical death said that they were able to see their whole life, as if it were a movie. Moreover, emphasis was placed on every bad deed. Any achievements during life are unimportant, and only the moral side of actions is assessed. There are also individuals who have described strange places that are neither heaven nor hell. It is clear that it has not yet been possible to obtain official evidence of all these words, but scientists are actively working on this issue.
How our dead live in the afterlife according to different peoples and religions:
- In ancient Egypt, people believed that after death they would go to judgment before Osiris, where their good and bad deeds would be taken into account. If the sins outweighed, then the soul was eaten by a monster and it disappeared forever, and respectable souls went to the fields of paradise.
- In Ancient Greece, it was believed that the soul goes to the kingdom of Hades, where it exists as a shadow without feelings or thoughts. Only those chosen for special merit could be saved from this.
- The Slavs, who were pagans, believed in. After death, the soul is reincarnated and returns to earth or is sent to another dimension.
- Adherents of Hinduism are sure that the soul is immediately reincarnated after a person’s death, but where it ends up depends on the righteousness of life.
- The afterlife, according to Orthodoxy, depends on what kind of life a person leads, so the bad go to hell, and the good go to heaven. The Church denies the possibility of soul reincarnation.
- Buddhism also uses the theory of the existence of heaven and hell, but the soul is not permanently in them and can move to other worlds.
Many are interested in the opinion of scientists about whether there is an afterlife, and science has not stood aside either, and today research is being actively carried out in this area. For example, English doctors began to monitor patients who experienced clinical death, recording all the changes that occur before death, during cardiac arrest and after restoration of the rhythm. When people who experienced clinical death came to their senses, scientists asked about their feelings and visions, which allowed them to draw several important conclusions. People who died felt lightness, comfort and pleasure, but no pain or suffering. They see loved ones who have passed away. People claimed that they were enveloped in a soft and warm light. In addition, later they changed their perception of life and no longer felt fear of death.
