Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences (17 page)

1.
If each of two lines of evidence from near-death experiences (NDEs) is 90 percent convincing of the existence of an afterlife, then the combination of these two lines of evidence may be considered as follows: The probability that either of these lines of NDE evidence
individually
is
not
convincing of the existence of an afterlife is 10 percent, or 0.1. The probability that the
combination
of these two lines of NDE evidence is
not
convincing of the existence of an afterlife is (0.10.1), or 0.01, which is 1 percent. Thus the
combination
of two lines of NDE evidence, each of which is 90 percent convincing of the existence of an afterlife, gives 100 percent minus 1 percent, or 99 percent confidence that the afterlife is convincingly felt to exist.

2.
Raymond Moody,
Life After Life
(Atlanta: Mockingbird Books, 1975).

3.
To expand on the inclusion criteria for the 613 NDErs quoted throughout the book: The experience had to describe a single NDE and be shared in English on the English version of the NDERF survey. Second- person NDE accounts were excluded. These 613 consecutive NDEs that met all criteria were shared between October 2004 and December 2008. Further details regarding the survey methodology can be found at http://www.nderf.org/evidence.

4.
The current version of the NDERF survey asks all questions that comprise the NDE Scale. The NDE Scale is described in detail by B. Grey- son, “The Near-Death Experience Scale: Construction, Reliability, and Validity,”
Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
171 (1983): 369—75.

5.
There is some variability in what NDE researchers consider the elements of a near-death experience to be. The twelve elements presented here were consistently observed in the NDERF study.

6.
Four other major studies used the NDE Scale to study the frequency of NDE elements: B. Greyson, “The Near-Death Experience Scale”; B. Greyson, “Incidence and Correlates of Near-Death Experiences in a Cardiac Care Unit,”
General Hospital Psychiatry
25 (2003): 269—76; A. Pacciolla, “The Near-Death Experience: A Study of Its Validity,”
Journal of Near-Death Studies
14 (1996): 179–85; J. Schwaninger, P. R. Eisenberg, K. B. Schechtman, and A. N. Weiss, “A Prospective Analysis of Near-Death Experiences in Cardiac Arrest Patients,”
Journal of Near- Death Studies
20 (2002): 215–32. The preceding four studies had a combined total of 136 NDErs.

7.
A discussion of frightening NDEs is beyond the scope of this book. Those interested in this topic are encouraged to read the presentation of frightening NDEs at the link on the NDERF website at http://www.nderf.org/evidence.

8.
Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, Summary of Key Findings, http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/ report2religious-landscape-study-key-findings, pdf.

1.
R. Blacher, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream …,”
Journal of the American Medical Association
242, no. 21 (1979): 2291.

2.
M. Sabom, “The Near-Death Experience,”
Journal of the American Medical Association
244, no. 1 (1980): 29–30.

3.
R. Moody,
Life After Life
(Atlanta: Mockingbird Books, 1975).

4.
R. Moody,
Reflections on Life After Life
(New York: Stackpole Books, 1977), 113.

5.
R. Moody and P. Perry, Coming Back: A Psychiatrist Explores Past-Life Journeys (New York: Bantam, 1991), 11.

6.
R. Moody and P. Perry,
The Light Beyond
(New York: Bantam Books, 1988), 62.

7.
The discussion between Sheila (not her real name) and me took place over a quarter of a century ago. I cannot recall the exact details of this discussion. Sheila’s NDE is presented as accurately as I can remember it. I cannot be as confident of the details of Sheila’s NDE as I am of the other NDEs presented in this book from written accounts shared directly by NDErs with NDERF.

1.
B. Eadie,
Embraced by the Light
(New York: Bantam, 1992).

2.
G. Gallup Jr. and W. Proctor,
Adventures in Immortality: A Look Beyond the Threshold of Death
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1982). There is significant uncertainty regarding the prevalence of NDEs, but this study’s estimate of 5 percent is widely quoted in spite of its methodological issues.

3.
A number of published studies directly compared the reliability of Internet surveys with “pencil-and-paper” surveys. The general consensus of multiple studies suggests that Internet surveys are as reliable as “pencil- and-paper” surveys. A detailed discussion of this topic is found through a link on the page http://www.nderf.org/evidence.

4.
D. Karnofsky and J. Burchenal, “The Clinical Evaluation of Chemo- therapeutic Agents in Cancer,” in
Evaluation of Chemotherapeutic Agents,
ed. C. M. MacLeod (New York: Columbia University Press, 1949), 191–205.

5.
NDErs sharing with NDERF may request that their NDEs not be posted on the NDERF website. Less than 5 percent of the NDErs request this. This helps assure that the near-death-experience accounts posted on the NDERF website are fully representative of all near-death experiences shared with NDERF. A detailed discussion of how representative the NDEs shared with NDERF are of all NDEs is at a link on the page http://www.nderf.org/evidence.

6.
A few of the NDEs that needed to be presented in this book were cases in which we could not contact the NDErs. When these NDEs are presented they are paraphrased, for ethical reasons. All paraphrased NDEs in this book are introduced as paraphrased accounts. All paraphrased NDEs are posted on the NDERF website in their original form.

1.
Following a cardiac arrest, EEG changes consistent with decreased blood flow to the brain are seen in about six seconds. The EEG flatlines in ten to twenty seconds. See J. W. DeVries, P. F. A. Bakker, G. H. Visser, J. C. Diephuis, and A. C. van Huffelen, “Changes in Cerebral Oxygen Uptake and Cerebral Electrical Activity During Defibrillation Threshold Testing,”
Anesthesiology and Analgesia
87 (1998): 16—20.

2.
Near-death experiences associated with cardiac arrest have been reported in dozens of previously published studies. Over one hundred NDEs occurring during cardiac arrest have been reported in these five studies alone: M. Sabom,
Recollections of Death: A Medical Investigation
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982); P. van Lommel, R. van Wees, V. Meyers, and I. Elfferich, “Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A Prospective Study in the Netherlands,”
Lancet
358 (2001): 2039–45; S. Parnia, D. G. Waller, R. Yeates, and P. Fenwick, “A Qualitative and Quantitative Study of the Incidence, Features and Aetiology of Near Death Experiences in Cardiac Arrest Survivors,”
Resuscitation
48 (2001): 149–56; J. Schwaninger, P. R. Eisenberg, K. B. Schechtman, and A. N. Weiss, “A Prospective Analysis of Near-Death Experiences in Cardiac Arrest Patients,”
Journal of Near-Death Studies
20 (2002): 215—32; B. Greyson, “Incidence and Correlates of Near-Death Experiences in a Cardiac Care Unit,”
General Hospital Psychiatry
25 (2003): 269—76.

3.
B. Greyson, E. W. Kelly, and E. F. Kelly, “Explanatory Models for Near-Death Experiences,” in
The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation,
ed. J. Holden, B. Greyson, and D. James (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2009), 229.

4.
Prior NDE studies consistently describe enhanced mental functioning during the experience. Here are two illustrative studies: J. E. Owens, E. W. Cook, and I. Stevenson, “Features of ‘Near-Death Experience’ in Relation to Whether or Not Patients Were Near Death,”
Lancet
336 (1990): 1175–77; E. W. Kelly, B. Greyson, and E. F. Kelly, “Unusual Experiences Near Death and Related Phenomena,” in
Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century,
by E. F. Kelly, E. W. Kelly, A. Crabtree, A. Gauld, M. Grosso, and B. Greyson (Lanham, MD: Row- man & Littlefield, 2007), 367–421, quote on 386.

5.
J. Long and J. Long, “A Comparison of NDEs Occurring Before and After 1975: Results from a Web Survey of Near Death Experiencers,”
Journal of Near-Death Studies
22, no. 1 (2003): 21–32.

6.
G. K. Athappilly, B. Greyson, and I. Stevenson, “Do Prevailing Societal Models Influence Reports of Near-Death Experiences? A Comparison of Accounts Reported Before and After 1975,”
Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
194 (2006): 218.

1.
M. Sabom,
Recollections of Death: A Medical Investigation
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982).

2.
P. Sartori, “A Prospective Study of NDEs in an Intensive Therapy Unit,”
Christian Parapsychologist
16, no. 2 (2004): 34–40. Results of this study were later presented in further detail: P. Sartori,
The Near-Death Experiences of Hospitalized Intensive Care Patients: A Five Year Clinical Study
(Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2008).

3.
J. Holden, “Veridical Perception in Near-Death Experiences,” in
The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation,
ed. J. Holden, B. Greyson, and D. James (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2009).

4.
K. Clark, “Clinical Interventions with Near-Death Experiencers,” in
The Near-Death Experience: Problems, Prospects, Perspectives,
ed. B. Greyson and C. P. Flynn (Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 1984), 242–55.

5.
K. Augustine, “Does Paranormal Perception Occur in Near-Death Experiences?”
Journal of Near-Death Studies
25, no. 4 (2007): 203–36; Sharp, K. C. “The Other Shoe Drops: Commentary on ‘Does Paranormal Perception Occur in Near-Death Experiences?’”
Journal of Near-Death Studies
25, no. 4 (2007): 245–50.

6.
P. van Lommel, R. van Wees, V. Meyers, and I. Elfferich, “Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A Prospective Study in the Netherlands,”
Lancet
358 (2001): 2039–45.

7.
For more information on the AWARE study, see University of Southampton Media Centre, “World’s Largest Ever Study of Near-Death Experiences,” http://www.soton.ac.uk/mediacentre/news/2008/sep/08_165.shtml.

8.
People experiencing cardiac arrest are usually amnesic or confused regarding events occurring immediately prior to or after the cardiac arrest. Here are three illustrative studies: M. J. Aminoff, M. M. Scheinman, J. C. Griffin, and J. M. Herre, “Electrocerebral Accompaniments of Syncope Associated with Malignant Ventricular Arrhythmias,”
Annals of Internal Medicine
108 (1988): 791–96; P. van Lommel, R. van Wees, V. Meyers, and I. Elfferich, “Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A Prospective Study in the Netherlands,”
Lancet
358 (2001): 2039–45; S. Parnia and P. Fenwick, “Near Death Experiences in Cardiac Arrest: Visions of a Dying Brain or Visions of a New Science of Consciousness,”
Resuscitation
52, no. 1 (2002): 5–11.

9.
There have been multiple reports from other NDE researchers of NDErs observing earthly events far from their physical bodies and beyond any possible physical sensory awareness. Here are two studies containing fifteen NDEs with corroboration of the NDErs’ remote observations by others: E. W. Cook, B. Greyson, and I. Stevenson, “Do Any Near-Death Experiences Provide Evidence for the Survival of Human Personality After Death? Relevant Features and Illustrative Case Reports,”
Journal of Scientific Exploration
12 (1998): 377–406; E. W. Kelly, B. Greyson, and I. Stevenson, “Can Experiences Near Death Furnish Evidence of Life After Death?”
Omega
40, no. 4 (1999–2000): 513–19.

1.
K. Ring and S. Cooper, “Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind: A Study of Apparent Eyeless Vision,”
Journal of Near-Death
Studies
16 (1998): 101—47. Results of this study were later presented in further detail: K. Ring and S. Cooper,
Mindsight: Near-Death and Out-of- Body Experiences in the Blind
(Palo Alto, CA: William James Center for Consciousness Studies, Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, 1999).

2.
Ring and Cooper,
Mindsight,
25.

3.
Ring and Cooper,
Mindsight,
46—47.

4.
Ring and Cooper,
Mindsight,
41—42.

5.
Ring and Cooper,
Mindsight,
151.

6.
Ring and Cooper,
Mindsight,
153.

7.
Ring and Cooper,
Mindsight,
157, 158, 163.

1.
B. Greyson, E. W. Kelly, and E. F. Kelly, “Explanatory Models for Near-Death Experiences,” in
The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation,
ed. J. Holden, B. Greyson, and D. James (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2009), 226.

2.
J. C. Eccles,
Evolution of the Brain, Creation of the Self
(London and New York: Routledge, 1991), 241.

3.
Awakening (full or partial) under general anesthesia probably occurs in 1 to 3 in 1,000 cases: T. Heier and P. Steen, “Awareness in Anaesthesia: Incidence, Consequences and Prevention,”
Acta Anaesthesiologica Scan- dinavica
40 (1996): 1073—86; R. H. Sandin, G. Enlund, P. Samuelsson, and C. Lennmarken, “Awareness During Anaesthesia: A Prospective Case Study,”
Lancet
355 (2000): 707–11.

4.
The experience of anesthesia awakening is very unlike what is described in NDEs: J. E. Osterman, J. Hopper, W. J. Heran, T. M. Keane, and B. A. van der Kolk, “Awareness Under Anesthesia and the Development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,”
General Hospital Psychiatry
23 (2001): 198–204; P. H. Spitelli, M. A. Holmes, and K. B. Domino, “Awareness During Anesthesia,”
Anesthesiology Clinics of North America
20 (2002): 555–70.

5.
K. R. Nelson, M. Mattingley, S. A. Lee, and F. A. Schmitt, “Does the Arousal System Contribute to Near Death Experience?”
Neurology
66 (2006): 1003–9.

6.
J. Long and J. M. Holden, “Does the Arousal System Contribute to Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences? A Summary and Response,”
Journal of Near-Death Studies
25, no. 3 (2007): 135—69. This article is available through a link at http://www.nderf.org/evidence.

7.
Eccles, Evolution of the Brain, Creation of the Self, 242.