"It
is as if one is going through a tunnel, it gets darker and darker,
then in the distance there is a light and you go into it. It is
hard to describe what it is like, it is like being in the middle
of the sun - incredibly bright light, but it is not blinding.
One is simply in it and it is as if you are one with this light.
It is not only light, there is something more, this light knows
you as you are. You feel accepted. What really made an impression
on me is the prevalent feeling there of a sense of love and warmth
which overshadowed everything else; it simply overwhelms you".
Thus a 35-year old Dutch chemist in a radio interview. He was
speaking about a profound experience he had, on what he considered
to be his deathbed, after a brain hemorrhage. He is one of many,
in recent years, who have dared to speak out openly about - to
them - a new reality: death is not the end.
Their
belief is no longer theoretical, stemming from religious conviction,
but a certainty based on the experience of having had a brief
glimpse of 'the other side.
Fear
Thousands, no, tens of thousands of people must have experienced
something very similar. They kept silent about it for fear of
being ridiculed by a materialistic society where fear of death
is so dominant that to speak about it is almost taboo. This fear
of death, according to the evidence given by 'eye witnesses' who
have dared to speak out, is totally unnecessary. Many of those
who have briefly passed the barrier between 'life and death' find
it much more difficult to come back than to stay 'on the other
side'. In the words of the same Dutch chemist: "At a certain point
I knew that I had to choose: either to go on (for you know that
beyond that light there is something more) or to go back. That
is just about the hardest thing to do, because the feeling of
so-called 'death' is so pleasant that it takes a great deal of
will-power to go back. I made the decision, but I can very well
imagine that there are people who find it so pleasant that they
stay there and go on."
The
fascinating thing about such first-hand testimonies is the striking
similarity between these experiences. This can be seen from the
results of the few scientific attempts which have been made to
put this area of knowledge on the map. The American psychologist
Dr Karlis Osis and his colleague from Iceland, Dr Erlendur Haraldsson,
have been conducting such a survey into what they cautiously term
'visions of the dying'. Questioning hundreds of doctors and nurses,
they gathered information about 442 deathbed experiences in the
USA and 435 in India (of which 163 people recovered). In no less
than 91 of these cases, evidence was given of 'hallucinations';
these all had in common the appearance of someone who said they
were there to ease the transition. Sometimes it was a 'figure
of light' but more often it was a member of the family who had
passed on and had come to help the patient.
The
following testimony was given by a doctor: "A female cardiac patient
in her fifties knew that she was dying and was in a discouraged,
depressed mood. Suddenly, she raised her arms and her eyes opened
wide; her face lit up as if she was seeing someone she hadn't
seen for a long time. She said, 'Oh, Katie, Katie'. The patient
had been suddenly roused from a comatose state, she seemed happy,
and she died immediately after the hallucination. There were several
Katies in this woman's family. All were dead."
Another
very similar experience: "A 68 year-old Polish housewife was afflicted
with cancer. Her mind was clear. She was settling some financial
matters and asked for her purse. She had not thought of dying.
Then she saw her husband who had died twenty years before. She
was happy with a sort of religious feeling and, according to her
doctor, she lost all fear of death. Instead, she felt it to be
the logical correct thing. She died within 5 or 10 minutes."
Non-pathological
According
to Osis and Haraldsson's survey, one of the significant characteristics
of these experiences is their degree of similarity. Personal variables
such as age, sex, conditioning, social status or religious background
did not seem to have had any influence on the nature of the 'hallucinations'.
Their content, however, differs significantly from the hallucinations
which, for instance, the mentally ill experience and which are
mostly auditory. In the case of the dying (and that of the psychic)
clearly visible images are seen. Another difference is that, of
the apparitions to which terminal patients testify, about 90 per
cent are close relatives. This is not the case with the mentally
ill.
There
are still more striking differences which prove that these appearances
to dying patients cannot be dismissed as the fevered ramblings
of the confused, gravely ill person. Feverish hallucinations and
those of the mentally ill usually evoke anxiety, are threatening
and confused. In the case of deathbed patients however, there
is overwhelming evidence of experiences which give tranquility
and joy. As instanced above, very frequently such an appearance
results in the patient coming out of a mental depression and,
comforted and freed of all fears, dares to meet death face to
face. In over a hundred of the documented cases the experience
was described as having been in 'a heavenly place' with magnificent
landscapes and beautiful gardens. In many cases where no images
were seen feelings of rest, tranquility and peace, sometimes of
religious fervour, were experienced. It is also striking that
these 'hallucinations' were experienced by many patients whose
mental functions were in no way impaired. According to this survey
nearly half of the patients were in a normal state of mind, were
completely aware of their surroundings and reacted rationally
on seeing the 'apparitions'.
Religion
- no influence
The
patients' expectations did not condition the type of vision experienced.
Neither in the US nor in India did the purpose or the identity
of the apparitions correspond to the hopes or otherwise which
the dying or mortally ill person had concerning their recovery.
In other words, patients who thought they would get better did
not have any less deathbed visions than those who knew that they
were dying. Whether they had a religious belief or not did not
seem to make any significant difference either: both believers
and non-believers had deathbed visions to the same degree. Osis
and Haraldsson also had the courage to state their own personal
beliefs: "When Osis started the pilot survey he was quite critical.
However, after having encountered many consistent doctor's reports
supporting the theory of postmortem survival, he slowly changed
his attitude toward the positive. Haraldsson also began with a
reserved but searching attitude. Gradually he became impressed
by the data from the many interviews he conducted. The outcome
of long labors on statistical evaluations moved him further towards
acceptance of the afterlife hypothesis as the most tenable explanation
of our data. Osis concurs with this interpretation." Even convinced
humanists with a firm belief in the finality of death, and that
one lives only once, cannot easily ignore the testimonies based
on personal experiences of 'life after death'. The book Life after
Life by the American philosopher and MD, Dr Raymond Moody, for
instance, caused the Dutch doctor and sociologist Albert Nieuwland
to reconsider his world view. In a newspaper interview Nieuwland,
who teaches at the Humanistic Educational Institute, admitted
that his initial plan had been to 'shoot the book down in flames'
in the magazine published by the humanistic organization. "But
when I read the book I became profoundly impressed", said Nieuwland,
and it caused him to read more on the subject. His conclusion:
"These stories are to be taken very seriously. They are still
usually dismissed as vague tales or as experiences caused by the
anaesthetic or the taking of medication. Yet, investigations done
mostly in America have shown that such reasoning is nonsense.
Since about 40 per cent of 'dying' people have these experiences,
it would be much more sensible to ask ourselves if we could learn
anything from them."
Reprinted
with the kind permission of Share International Magazine.
