Lighthouse

Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) are reported when an individual leaves their body during a (usually) traumatic experience, but then returns.

Most individuals report a similar process -- they usually find themselves looking down at their body (or *a* body, since many do not at first recognize the body below as their own), and watch the activity going on around them. If they try to make contact with any individuals around them, however, they aren't heard, seen, or felt. They often then move into a tunnel of light, and/or eventually meet a relative/friend/religious or spiritual figure which reassures them, and then advises that it's not their time and they need to return to their body. Most don't want to return, but may agree when they think of loved ones that would be left behind. Some are returned kicking and screaming all the way, because the place they were at felt like 'home'.

That's a simplification, but it's the general idea <s>.

What's important about this scenario? Everyone that's undergone an NDE comes away convinced that we are more than what we can see. Most of these individuals undergo a profound change in their lives and personal goals -- a measurable and observable change that indicates a "Significant Emotional Event", shall we say. . Most return convinced that Death is nothing to fear; not only does their pain/suffering cease, but they know that their *selves* continue on.

Some doctors/psychologists have reported that near-death experiences are nothing more than hallucinations or a chemical reaction in the brain (leading to the hallucination). Then how would a woman brought to a hospital in a strange city *see* a tennis shoe out on a ledge??

In a well-known NDE story related by Kimberly Clark Sharp, then a counselor at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, that's just what happens. Maria, a migrant worker, is brought to the hospital with a heart attack. Later, as Kimberly speaks with her, Maria frantically talks to her about her NDE, and about a tennis shoe she saw out on the ledge around the hospital while she was out of her body. Kimberly finally agrees to go look for the shoe, to give Maria some peace of mind. To her surprise, Kimberly actually finds a tennis shoe -- matching Maria's description, and in a location that Maria had no way of knowing about ... unless she actually was out of her body during her emergency room experience.

Other NDEers have been able to report to medical personnel what actually transpired during their event; not only what was said, which you might argue they heard and remembered from their unconscious state ... but also things they could only *see* if they were out of their body -- a pen on the floor, a particular hat on the anethesiologist; dust on the tops of light fixtures and cabinets in the room (which you wouldn't expect in a hospital). Some have accurately reported what relatives said - or wore - even when the relative was not in the room with them.

These events would seem to indicate that Near-Death Experiences are real. And if NDEs are real, then it follows that we are more than what we see ... and that we survive.

(Please read on, when available.)