For the layperson, however, theories raise more questions than they answer, offering little comfort in confronting the essential human questions of "what makes me me?" and, more poignantly, "what happens to to me when I die?" The latter question is arguably the real question of consciousness, as it comes as a result of recognizing the presence of one's own subjective cognition/individual consciousness and the realization that said consciousness erodes and eventually ceases with the end of physical life... or seems to. It's an existential black mirror; the dark side of Descartes' "I think, therefore I am." Without a cohesive understanding of or agreement on the mechanics and laws of consciousness, that question can't be answered. It cannot even be presumed to have an answer awaiting after death, for if death is the absolute negation of consciousness - if you cease to be when you cease to think - then there is no "finding out" after we die: there's just the vacuum of not-being, a state of statelessness.
In the midst of these theories, however, are those that believe in a kind of recycling of consciousness: that individual selves may be reincarnated in new bodies, sometimes retaining scraps of memory - and even physical features - from the lives they lived before. One of the most prominent proponents of that theory was Dr. Ian Stevenson, a psychiatrist who worked for five decades at the University of Virginia's School of Medicine, where he founded the Division of Perceptual Studies, which studies "phenomena related to consciousness clearly functioning beyond the confines of the physical body, as well as phenomena that are directly suggestive of post-mortem survival of consciousness." Beginning in 1960, Stevenson traveled the world investigating thousands cases of reincarnation, documenting his findings and eventually writing several books on the subject, including his groundbreaking work Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation and the massive, two-volume Reincarnation and Biology: A Contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects. The book documents 200 different cases of children - often from very remote areas of the world - who had memories and birthmarks that corresponded with those of deceased people whose lives they claimed to have lived before. Some, who claimed to have died violently, had birthmarks or physical defects where the deceased had suffered a mortal injury, while others suffered from phobias relating to their past death.
In his book, Children Who Remember Previous Lives: A Question of Reincarnation, Stevenson observed that:
"The most frequently occurring event or common denominator relating to rebirth is probably that of a child remembering a past life. Children usually begin to talk about their memories between the ages of two and four. Such infantile memories gradually dwindle when the child is between four and seven years old. There are of course always some exceptions, such as a child continuing to remember its previous life but not speaking about it for various reasons.Most of these cases were documented in Asian countries with large religious - Hindu, Buddhist - populations that believed in reincarnation. Culturally speaking, however, reincarnation is not an entirely Eastern belief. The ancient Greeks, for example, believed in a river called Lethe that the dead were required to drink from in order to wipe their memories clean before being reincarnated. Stevenson, of course, was keenly aware of this and other traditions. When asked by OMNI magazine why Westerners often reject the idea of reincarnation, Stevenson noted that "some southern European Christians believed in reincarnation until the Council of Nice banned such beliefs in 553 A.D. In The Republic, Plato described souls about to be reborn as choosing their future lives. Schopenhauer took it seriously, and Voltaire's observation that it is no more surprising to be born twice than once is well-known."
Most of the children talk about their previous identity with great intensity and feeling. Often they cannot decide for themselves which world is real and which one is not. They often experience a kind of double existence where at times one life is more prominent, and at times the other life takes over. This is why they usually speak of their past life in the present tense saying things like, 'I have a husband and two children who live in Jaipur.' Almost all of them are able to tell us about the events leading up to their death."
The major critics - including psychologist Terence Hines - of Stevenson's work invoked Occam's Razor, asserting that the majority of the cases could have simpler, non-paranormal explanations. Because these children often claimed to be the reincarnations of relatives, they would likely have some knowledge of the deceased they were claiming to be. It could also be that the children were just acting out fantasies, which were inadvertently encouraged by Stevenson, creating what amount to a confirmation bias/validation loop. The physical evidence could be explained as coincidence or in some cases even intentional scarring or making by the parents. In the face of these plausibilities, Stevenson himself urged caution in being too quick to jump to conclusions. "Essentially I say that the idea of reincarnation permits but doesn't compel belief," Stevenson told OMNI, "All the cases I've investigated so far have shortcomings. Even taken together, they do not offer anything like proof."
The burden of proof aside, Stevenson's documentation does provide an answer to the question posed by mortality.
"I wouldn't claim to be free of the fear of death, but it is probably less in me than other people," Stevenson said. "These children sometimes provide reassurances to adults. We've had two or three incidents of children going to, let's say, a woman who has lost her husband and is inconsolable and saying, 'You shouldn't be crying. Death isn't the end. Look at me. I died and I'm here again.'"
For some, that may be enough.
Reader Comments
In preperation of yet another excuciating night, I decided to completely accept my pain and let go, not fighting it any longer, and then I slipped away. Suddenly I was surrounded by the most beautifull light I've ever seen, consisting of more colours than we can see in our regular form. I felt a sense of absolute peace, love, freedom and happiness, feeling intimately connected with the entire universe, unlike anything one can immagine, and I don't think there are any human words adequate enough to describe that state of being. I felt a deep mental understanding of everything, an extremely hightened consciousness, and I never felt more me than at that moment, however strange that may sound. I had access to all of my memory in the most vivid detail, and I could remember every thought, event or feeling I ever experienced, and every single word I ever heard or read. I had no pain what so ever, and the entire concept of fear seemed like it never existed at all. I heard beautifull sounds all around me, in tones I've never heard while alive, though still strangely undiscernable. I wasn't conscious anymore of having a body, or even of any form, and time and space had lost all meaning to me. I was just a pure ball of consciousness, just being, completely in awe.
Though after some time, a voice of sorts, or more the escence of a message within me comming from some other unseen and unknown entity, without being spoken in the regular sense, declared with more force than I've ever experienced: NOT. YOUR. TIME!!! Like being struck by lightning, I suddenly found myself streight up in my bed with a tremendous shock. Something or someone had kicked me back into my misserable sick body with unimaginable force against my will, and I just sat there, completely in awe. I clearly remember this strange feeling, of almost like homesickness unlike anything I ever felt before. All I wanted was to go back to that state or plane, but I learned more and more that that wasn't going to happen.
At the time I thought I must have reached some state of what the orientals reffered to as enlightenment. It wasn't until a year later, I read my first ever article on near death experiences (right here on sott), and finnaly everything fell in place for me. At the time I had no clue I actually died. Only after reading countless articles and many books on the subject I found out what it was I experienced a year prior. Though what the current pinnacle of modern thinking and science in our modern world is concerned, anything that cannot be measured by a ruler, a thermometer or a scale, is automaticly false. To each his own.
This whole experience has strangely given me a new passion for life ever since. I no longer feel weighted down with any fear for the presumed worst case scenario, because now I know. I quit my dead end job and made the big switch to things much more in line with my heart, and I found a renewed sense of gratitude and love for my friends and family. It made me rethink many things, and greatly apreciate the people and things I'm lucky enough to have in my life.
Suddenly I remembered the words of my late grandfather: "For death is only a horizon, and a horizon is merely the limit of what we can see". And how right he was! Just like the world obviously doesn't end past the horizon, so we - our real selves - don't end when we cast off this vehicle of meat and bones we borrowed from nature for a short while. More so, it doesn't only not end, I found from my own experience and those from many others, that your state of consciousness actually seems to increase exponentially when the mind is freed from it's physical carrier. Ever since my near death experience, I've felt like this life is almost like a simplistic dream, a great human comedy, and that the real life lies ever beyond the veil.
(I've heard that) quality LSD, (i.e., 'windowpane') and psychedelic mushrooms - taken in the right amount in the right 'set and setting' often cause the same 'inspirational' feelings. See generally, erowid.org. at [Link]
(I am NOT questioning your experience; I doubt it not at all.
R.C.
Maybe that's why Buddhist monks stay celibate, not having children is a blessing. In my case, paying the bills and having decent freaking health care benefits don't make me feel as hopeful as you did in leaving your job.
Maybe I'm saying you are more ignorant about reality and the solid issues that people have to deal with.
The litterature on the subject, seems to point to people dying unexpectately (like with a accident or murder) as having at times great difficulty in letting go of their old life, loved ones or unattended business. This may cause some souls to stick around for some time, though eventually, everyone has to go on (for I've never heard of any medium mentioning dinosaurs or cavemen). However, this is merely me relating what I've read on the subject, as I didn't see any other souls or beings myself, but some people seem rather knowledgeable on the subject. In this regard, I can only recomend studying the topic yourself, and draw your own conclusions.
While working your normal job, we can all look for something else and make the switch when we got everything covered, or you can follow a course or reschooling if your dream job requires it. I think that's what differentiates happy or succesfull people, from everyone else: they all seem to have an iron will and focus, fueled by a burning desire. They never take no for an answer, and push through even when the going gets tough. Most folks are not willing to put in the nescesary time and effort, always bemoaning their lot, not realizing that the key had always been in their back pocket.
Therefore, calling me ignorant is perhaps a bit presumtuous on your part. I'm not exactely a stranger to hard times either, amd I fell hard many times, but I paid my price for the life I now enjoy, and so can anyone.
I now know that we leave our physical body when we sleep while our soul and spirit body spend time in the spirit world in the sleep state. To awaken we come back into the physical body, which is connected by a chord. I believe all NDE to be similar to these sleep state experiences, because you are still connected to the physical body. When that chord is broken we cannot come back to the physical body and that is called death.
But our soul and spirit body now still exist in the spirit world and we still feel like us because the soul contains our memories, emotions, passions and intentions, and the mind is in our spirit body. The brain in the physical body has the sole functions of processing all sensory information for the physical body to maneuver in the physical world. For more info go to divinetruth.com
Notice the use of "my", which almost everyone uses when talking about themselves. My body, my mind - it's not me, it's MINE, it belongs to me. This seems to be a very clear indication that we already know the relationship.
The explanations for this state of being are varied, but the bottom line is that there is a state beyond (or other than) the physical, material world. Call it consciousness, spirit, even dark energy, what you will... that is where YOU are.