Thank you for putting all this together. I too hope that information about NDEs and other phenomena studied by parapsychologists can be woven into our tending of the bereaved. I know it helped me immensely when I lost a loved one.
It seems the many benefits listed in this article depend on both believing, and not really believing NDE stories, at the same time.
If the NDE stories are factually accurate descriptions of reality, and if we truly believe that, then it would seem to follow that all the pain involved in living is easily avoided by dying. Fully believing NDE stories would have profound consequences for the human experience, and not all of those consequences would be positive for the experience of living. NDE stories are not a miracle drug which can solve all problems.
Not believing NDE stories, and feeling death is the end of everything, also has profound negative influence upon the human experience.
The sweet spot may be somewhere in the middle. We don't believe the NDE stories enough to willingly die, but we believe them enough to enhance our living. We believe, and don't believe, both at the same time.
Personally, I'm convinced that the spectacular experiences being reported are really happening, and those making these reports are being truthful and sincere. But that doesn't automatically equal our explanations for these experiences being factually accurate. How something feels is not always how it actually is.
As example, just because science culture tends to be populated with those with a mechanical perspective on everything doesn't automatically make their "brain hallucination" theory of NDEs the final answer.
My own suspicion, based on nothing more than life experience and intuition, is that whatever the true explanation for NDE experiences may be, it may be something far stranger and outside of our frame of reference than "spiritual realm" and "brain hallucinations". I find myself somewhat suspicious of competing theories which seem to be mirroring a culture wide debate that's been underway for 500 years. Is this just another flavor of the "does God exist" debate?
Thank you for putting all this together. I too hope that information about NDEs and other phenomena studied by parapsychologists can be woven into our tending of the bereaved. I know it helped me immensely when I lost a loved one.
It seems the many benefits listed in this article depend on both believing, and not really believing NDE stories, at the same time.
If the NDE stories are factually accurate descriptions of reality, and if we truly believe that, then it would seem to follow that all the pain involved in living is easily avoided by dying. Fully believing NDE stories would have profound consequences for the human experience, and not all of those consequences would be positive for the experience of living. NDE stories are not a miracle drug which can solve all problems.
Not believing NDE stories, and feeling death is the end of everything, also has profound negative influence upon the human experience.
The sweet spot may be somewhere in the middle. We don't believe the NDE stories enough to willingly die, but we believe them enough to enhance our living. We believe, and don't believe, both at the same time.
Personally, I'm convinced that the spectacular experiences being reported are really happening, and those making these reports are being truthful and sincere. But that doesn't automatically equal our explanations for these experiences being factually accurate. How something feels is not always how it actually is.
As example, just because science culture tends to be populated with those with a mechanical perspective on everything doesn't automatically make their "brain hallucination" theory of NDEs the final answer.
My own suspicion, based on nothing more than life experience and intuition, is that whatever the true explanation for NDE experiences may be, it may be something far stranger and outside of our frame of reference than "spiritual realm" and "brain hallucinations". I find myself somewhat suspicious of competing theories which seem to be mirroring a culture wide debate that's been underway for 500 years. Is this just another flavor of the "does God exist" debate?
But anyway, at age 73, I'll find out soon enough.