A New View of Consciousness and Reality :
What Happens When We Die?

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We’ve already explored the knock down evidence that Near-Death Experiences are not a result of some process in the brain. We may never know the full story about what happens after we die. Indeed, if we did, that would ruin the mystery. However, the Near-Death Experience comes the closest to illuminating at least some aspects of life after death.

The problem with NDEers (Near-Death Experiencers') descriptions of the afterlife from a scientific perspective is that we can never verify their descriptions. Science deals only with the material realm. As of now, there is no way of using scientific instruments to explore other dimensions.  These can only be explored consciously.

So, we must treat NDEs more like we treat historical science. How do archeologists come up with an accurate depiction of ancient cities and how life was conducted there? There are certainly no experiments they can carry out in a laboratory to figure out what happened long ago.  Instead they are left with digging up artifacts and examining the written testimonies from that time. The more artifacts they find and the more the ancient peoples wrote, the more accurate will be the historian’s depiction of that place and time. With Near-Death Experiences, too, we have no way of accessing directly the otherworldly realms that NDEers describe. Instead, we must rely on the accurate testimony of people who have consciously experienced them.

Now, if a historian only has one or two testimonies to go on, his confidence is going to be pretty low with regard to how accurate a depiction he can create of what life was like in an ancient city. However, suppose the historian has access to thousands of written records from that same ancient city. Now his confidence is very high that he can accurately describe what life was like there. Luckily, the same is true for NDEs. We now have thousands of written records of people who’ve experienced an NDE. This is in large part thanks to dedicated researchers who have encouraged people to share their extraordinary stories. The largest collection of such stories is currently posted online in full text by the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF).41 

Every NDE is unique and the specific contents of any one NDE are highly variable. However, with all the variability, the experiences show many common elements. If you wish to explore some of these elements in detail, I will refer you to my paper entitled The Near-Death "Experience" posted on the NDERF website. For now I simply wish to explore the reconnection of individual consciousness with the Source Consciousness, as this is pertinent to our discussion.  

An out-of-body experience is a typical beginning of a Near-Death Experience. This is where someone all of a sudden experiences their mind apart from the physical body. This is often accompanied by an enhanced perception with exceptional abilities, including but not limited to being able to see with a 360 degree panoramic view, the experience of being in multiple locations at once, clearer and sharper perception, the ability to think many streams of thought at once, and the ability to see through physical objects.42

Sometimes, but not always, an out-of-body experience is followed by the experience of being sucked through a dark tunnel with a light at the end. The following is a tunnel description from Dr. Jeffrey Long’s book Evidence of the Afterlife:

“I then noticed that while it was pitch-dark, it felt as if I was in a tunnel, and all along the tunnel were doorways, but the whole tunnel I could sense was like . . . a cave—sort of rocky, not too rocky but kind of smooth—at least that’s my impression of it. So then I am feeling a little more afraid, like, what’s going on here? It felt like I was like that for an hour. Just there, then, I could see a pinpoint of white light in front of me in the distance, the size of a pencil eraser head—that size. So I sense that I start moving in that direction, . . . like something [is] pulling me there; I don’t feel as if I [am] doing it. At this point I was like floating [in an] upright position, then going slowly toward that pinpoint of light. And then I knew that there [were] little doorways all along this tunnel, and I felt that . . . if I wanted to, [I could] go into any of those doorways, and I felt at the time that if I did, I would not come back, but my attention was on the light.” 43

The tunnel is very interesting, resembling a kind of worm-hole that takes you back to the Source. Not all NDEers who reconnect with the Source experience travelling through a tunnel. Others may see the light superimposed over the physical environment or simply pop into a dimension of light without any memory of a tunnel experience.44,45 The reunion with the light is experienced as an ecstatic feeling of the most intense love you've ever experienced and a 'going home'. To explain this I will quote from three of the experiences found at the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation website.

"Everything that I perceived as existing could be experienced as the most intense light I could possibly imagine. I remember it as being a hundred times brighter than the sun, but it was not painful to experience. I had the sense that the light was responsible for everything I had been a part of since leaving my Earthly body. I don't know if I can describe this source of light as God or Jesus or any other divine being. It was far deeper than we can describe in Earthly terms or feelings. I had an awareness of this "source" that needed absolutely no means of conveyance or communication. I had become a part of this "source" to the extent of oneness. Maybe I had become part of this "source".

The thing I remember the most is how distant I had become from the physical body. When we express as humans we hope to one day be reunited with departed friends and family, but there is no way to explain how we will truly be together again. The reunion is not as Father and Son or as our dear friend. It's as if our souls are part of an atom that had been split with all the destructive force of the universe and then suddenly come back to form a single atom again. This atom somehow contained every experience ever thought, felt or imagined. Nothing ever beckoned me to the light or tried to persuade me to come or go. Our souls just know where we belong. 46

I finally came to the end and floated into a place which was overwhelmed by a radiant white light that seemed to embody all the concepts of love. A love which was unconditional and like a mother has for a child. It was definitely a warm joyful presence, the same one that drew me into the tunnel in the first place. It seemed like a giant force field or energy that radiated all the good and noble emotions known to man. [. . .] I knew in my heart that this was God. Words can't describe my awe in this presence. It seemed like I became part of The Light and then The Light became part of me. We were one. I suddenly understood, without question, how interconnected we all are with each other, God and all life forms in the Universe. 47

[. . .] then became immersed in infinite peace; bliss; ecstasy. Unimaginable love; understanding so great, so powerful, so awesome as to be humanly incomprehensible. While I was there (and only there), access was given to knowledge; "everything that ever was, is, and will be." The true nature of the universe was suddenly clear as a bell, like a giant jigsaw puzzle. It seemed to have a perfect order to it...in fact, it was evident that I was soon to become part of it. I was about to join the entity which could only be described as... God; so vast in dimension and scope only biblical words can come close to describing. I wasn't able to retain the knowledge given; the human brain is much too primitive and limited to house it. This intelligence requires an entirely different dimension to exist and comprehend. Yet it is part of our three dimensions as well...just hidden out of view of our 5 senses. Yet I retain enough to remember the sheer awe." 48

The first experience conveys that we are all part of this Source Light, like split off atoms that, when we die, go back to the one Source. We are intelligent light beings that are part of this one intelligent conscious light source. The second experience also shows that we are all connected through this one Light. Furthermore, this Light is experienced as Love.

The last experience shows us that the Light contains all knowledge. Everything in existence is connected to the Source non-locally. Non-local means that the information cannot be localized; it is everywhere. In fact, it is everywhere and nowhere because it cannot be localized. Each piece of information is accessible from anywhere in the field of consciousness. Everything in the field of consciousness is non-local. Since all of existence is non-locally connected to Source Consciousness, when we go back to Source Consciousness we have access to all knowledge.

Source Consciousness is the source of all possibilities, containing an infinite amount of energy. It is the basis and source for our consciousness and the material world.

As Astrophysicist Bernard Haisch writes in his book, The God Theory, creation is a process of subtraction from infinite potential. He compares the creation of the material world to the creation of movies from a projector. From the pure white light of the projector literally any image can be created.

In his book, he writes: "All you have to do to project the picture you want is put in the slide that subtracts the proper colors in the proper places. The white light is thus the source of infinite possibility, and you create the desired image by intelligent subtraction, causing the real to emerge from the possible. By limiting the infinitely possible, you create the finitely real.
          
Let’s take this optical metaphor one step further. The white light of a projector can convey more than just a static image. Project a series of images in rapid succession and you create motion. Although, on one level, that motion consists of a series of still shots, when those still shots are projected rapidly enough, the sum becomes greater than its parts. The resulting “motion picture” is more than just the sum of the images created out of the white light. People and actions and even emotions are made manifest by acting upon the formless white light in just the proper way, in just the right sequence. A replica of our real world can thus be created out of the unlimited potential of the white light through a process of intelligent subtraction carried out in space and time. A virtual reality is thus created out of formless possibility. In fact, motion pictures are a concrete example of how a filter, the film, by selectively subtracting from a formless potential, can generate a virtual reality."49

So, as discussed before, the Source Light exists in a non-local space containing all possibilities. This Light creates the material realm with all of its laws as an actualization of its potential. In my mind it's very similar to the collapse of the wave function in physics. All “solid” matter can be expressed as a wave function of spread out energy. What we see as the material world is the collapse of this wave function into one possibility, the possibility that we experience. Quoting from the book Quantum Enigma by Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner:

"There is no atom in addition to the wavefunction of the atom. If someone happened to see the atom at a particular spot, that look would collapse the spread out wavefunction of the atom to be concentrated at that particular spot for everyone . . . Accordingly, before a look collapses a widely spread-out wavefunction to the particular place where the atom is found, the atom did not exist there prior to the look. the look brought about the atom's existence at that particular place - for everyone." 50 

Implying, that from a realm of infinite possibilities, consciousness brings the material world into existence. This world is a conscious projection of the Source Light created by subtraction of infinite possibilities into the world of space and time that we experience. It is constantly being projected and guided by this underlying intelligence. We, as part of this intelligence, are co-creators of reality.

The experience of the Source Light is not just an experience NDEers have. This experience of re-union with the source has also been described in UFO literature, in transpersonal experiences, mysticism, and as spontaneous occurrences in everyday life. I will quote here from a variety of different sources to show the connections all of these experiences share.

First from Psychiatrist and consciousness explorer Stanislav Grof, who shares a description of his encounter with the Source after smoking 5-MeO-DMT. This is apparently one of those substances that when the brain is flooded with it, somehow it can sever the connection between consciousness and the brain and send consciousness straight back to its Source. Shortly after taking 2 or 3 hits from the pipe he describes:

"My only reality was a mass of radiant swirling energy of immense proportions that seemed to contain all existence in a condensed and entirely abstract form. I became Consciousness facing the Absolute. It had the brightness of myriad suns, yet it was not on the same continuum with any light I knew from everyday life. It seemed to be pure consciousness, intelligence, and creative energy transcending all polarities. It was infinite and finite, divine and demonic, terrifying and ecstatic, creative and destructive--all that and much more. I had no concept, no categories for what I was witnessing. I could not maintain a sense of separate existence in the face of such a force. My ordinary identity was shattered and dissolved; I became one with the Source." 51

The ineffability of the experience is quite evident from Grof's account. Nonetheless, we see definite parallels to the Source experienced by NDEers. For one, he describes it as being extremely bright, although of an unworldly sort of brightness. Also, it contains all of existence in an abstract (unmanifest) form. And he too becomes fused with this Source.

The next account of an encounter with the Source is described in Robert Hamilton's fascinating book, Caduceus. It is an experience that happened to him when he was simply sitting down contemplating some things he had read that day. The onset of the experience is sudden. In his own words:

"Then, all of a sudden, I was seized, as though by some invisible and intangible force. It was an extraordinary feeling, utterly unique and totally different from any sensation that I had felt ever before. To add to the barrage of the senses came with the experience a constant whirring sound, which would not abate and remains with me today. This onset of sudden energy seemed to flood the whole of my person, and the dominant impression, and what was so amazing and beautiful, although thoroughly confusing at the time, was the unmistakable sensation of light. The whole experience seemed to create an incredible luminescence which is almost impossible to describe as it was nothing like how one would usually envisage light, whether from the light of the sun or from an electricity bulb . .

It seemed that what now 'constituted me' was total consciousness; the focus of my being was entirely of the 'soul', for want of a better description. It was as if the entire experience represented moments of revelation where 'everything' was made known and comprehended, although in a rather indefinable way. Yet, despite the bewilderment and confusion, I felt the presence of an absolute and profound sense of peace which was beyond anything I had ever known previously. And then, quite suddenly, it ended, just as suddenly as it had begun, with a discernible 'return' of my normal self and my normal thoughts." 52

Again, we have the experience of an unworldly luminescent light where we are encompassed in 'total consciousness' which allows access to all knowledge and is accompanied by an experience of deep love and peace.

The last account of an encounter with Source Consciousness comes from the important work of Ufologist Raymond Fowler, The Watchers II. Fowler, a grandmaster of ufology, has written a number of books describing the abductions of Betty Andreasson Luca and Bob Luca. The accounts of their abductions were gathered through the use of hypnotic regression. In his book, The Watchers II, Fowler gives evidence that many (not all) UFO abductions actually take place in an out-of-body state; a point also supported by researcher Richard L. Thompson.53,54 Therefore, the person is not physically abducted, but their consciousness is abducted. This means that the experience may take place in another dimension, not the material realm.

The experience I am about to quote happened while Betty was in an out-of-body state. She is aboard the UFO with a tall Elder, who is a human-like personage who works with, and controls, the typical grey aliens.55 He's somewhat akin to a supervisor; he's the man in charge. While aboard the UFO, he tells Betty that he's taking her to see 'the One'.  Afterwards, the craft comes to a stop and the door opens to reveal a place that is very bright. I pick up the experience as she goes into the light accompanied by the Elder and a grey alien:

"Oh, we're running toward the light now. Oh-h-h! [breathless] I can see . . . the Elder is changing to a white light being and . . . the grey is changing into a light blue one [blows out air] as we're running closer to the light. Oh, I'm starting to change into a golden-colored light! Oh, this is beautiful! Oh-h-h. [long sigh, exhales, sighs again] Oh, this is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Oh, there is such love. [Betty is in pure unadulterated ecstasy.] Oh, there is such peace. [long sigh] I'm just engulfed in light and blending into that light. Oh! [. . .] It is just fantastically beautiful. It's just so much love, so much peace and so wonderful. It's so wonderful. Oh, it's just wonderful. Oh. It is. It is. It is. [. . .] Oh, this is everything, everything, everything." 56

As this experience is being recalled under hypnosis, you see her reactions as she is recounting the experience, in brackets. Again, we see a very similar experience, just described in different terms. She is engulfed by the light and blends into it (becomes as one with it), it is full of love and peace, and it is everything (containing all knowledge).

The more sources you have pointing to the same conclusion makes that conclusion much stronger than if the knowledge only comes from a single source. We've just examined the knowledge NDEers come back with of a Source of Intelligent Consciousness and a few of the other sources that are practically identical to the accounts of this Source given by NDEers.

However, the NDE gives us not only the knowledge of consciousness, but a whole different way of viewing life from a spiritual perspective. I intend to go through five points of knowledge about life and reality that can be ascertained by studying NDE accounts. For each of these points I will provide at least two other sources that give us the same knowledge.

Next:  The Body is a Shell