History

The greatest lifelong enigma of humanity is surely the contemplation of what happens to us when we die. What world, if any, awaits us on the other side of death's door?

Historically, evidence of mankind asking this question goes back to the Stone Age. Primitive humans once buried their dead in the fetal position suggesting the belief that they would be born again into a new human form. According to some researchers this ritual may be the earliest known example of belief in reincarnation.

Many millennia later, reincarnation took root in India and became the cornerstone of the oldest of today's major world religions-Hinduism. The goal of every Hindu is to break the wheel of samsara or the process of reincarnation. To accomplish this one must open their heart to the world, become compassionate, and satisfy all Earthly desires, Once the soul has matured in this fashion and there is no more karma to pay, then the soul rejoins its maker.

The revered priest called the Dalai Lama is believed by all Buddhists to be their reincarnated spiritual leader. In 1937, a two-and-a-half-year old boy was confirmed as the reincarnated fourteenth Dali Lama through his knowledge of objects owned by previous Dali Lamas and by certain physical characteristics such as moles found in certain locations on the young boy's body.

Other world cultures throughout history have been captivated by the notion of life after death or reincarnation. For centuries Native American tribes have based their lives around the spirit world. The Mayan symbol of death and rebirth is the skull (see the chapter on Crystal Skulls). Is it possible that these ancient civilizations developed a reverence for the afterlife through their positive near-death experiences?

Recorded evidence of near-death experiences or NDEs is found in the ancient Egyptian as well as the Tibetan Books of the Dead. In Egypt, small shafts projecting out from the center of the great pyramid of Giza are believed by some to be portals for the Pharaoh's soul to depart to the heavens, and in Greece, the philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle also wrote of reincarnation.

In the mid-nineteenth century, spiritualism ignited an American pre-occupation with the afterlife, and in 1875 a Ukrainian immigrant named Madame Blavatsky kindled U.S. interest in reincarnation. But serious scientific exploration of these phenomena has been ongoing only in recent decades. The true magic of what happens to humans when they die has only recently surfaced in the stories of those who have literally died and come back to tell us of their amazing journeys.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the near-death experience is that it deeply and permanently affects the life of the experiencer. To these people this experience is absolutely real in every way. Also, patterns of NDEs are consistent worldwide throughout all cultures, all religions, and even among atheists. They occur in men, women, and children from all socioeconomic backgrounds.

Most of the ninety percent of positive near-death experiences begin with a traumatic physical event such as an operation, an accident, or a heart attack. Although often declared clinically dead, a typical "NDE traveler," as I shall refer to him or her, begins the journey by first becoming aware of EMS or ER personnel talking amongst themselves or working on a patient in distress. Or traveler will then "pop out" of his body and begin to float over this scene as an observer.

In many cases it takes a while for the traveler to recognize that the body below is actually his own. At this point he begins to experience a level of peace and warmth of love and joy, and of pure contentment beyond human explanation. They feel suddenly released from human pain and bondage, freed from the physical crisis of their ordeal. Then quite remarkably they realize they are able to telepathically understand the humans in the room below, or for that matter - humans in the hall or in the next room, or even outside. Some travelers describe complete euphoria, especially when they go outside. They feel completely free. They are no longer a wife, husband, daughter, or brother. They are simply themselves, and they are ecstatic to be where they are.

Skeptics of course argue that this experience is simply the dying process of the physical human brain, that this is simply our own physiological "send-off" into the world of nothing. Yet very specific details "learned" during their NDE, or during their resuscitation, and later recalled and confirmed seem to refute this contention - details either previously unknown to the patient, or available only to someone looking down on the operation table from above or "consciously listening" to frantic conversations among ER personnel.

Some people describe the ability to be anywhere geographically simply by thought. Apparently distance and time are not constraints in the world of human spirits. NDE travelers describe in detail their journey to see a loved one or friend. Upon their return to the land of breathing humans, they recall and describe in minute detail the clothes their loved ones were wearing, their conversations, or what they were doing at exactly that point in time. Their relatives or friends are overwhelmed when their once "dead" brother or sister recounts these events perfectly to the letter.

Some "consciospiritual" (see the Glossary) travelers even claim to have the ability to telepathically communicate with babies or small children, and still others travel into space to view the Earth from above. Renowned psychiatrist Carl Jung was one such space explorer during his near-death experience.