Is there life after death?

The question of life after death has been plaguing the mind of human beings for centuries. We are conscious beings and grasping the concept of no longer existing is difficult. While traditional scientists have been speculating that our consciousness is produced within the brain, nobody has been able to explain how brain cells could generate it.

We might not be able to see what is on the other side, but we can look at what experiences human beings have had in relation to life after death.

I am not a religious person, at the same time, it doesn’t mean that because something hasn’t been proven by science yet that it doesn’t exist. There are many skeptics that don’t believe in life after death, but that still remains a belief. The truth is that nobody knows.

In an interview written by Robert Birchard, NYAS Staff, Dr. Parnia speaks about the question of the body and consciousness.

“If you look down a microscope at a brain cell, and I said to you, this brain cell is now thinking, you’d say that’s crazy, it’s a brain cell.” Brain cells produce proteins that generate changes in sodium, which generates electricity. “That’s not a thought,” Parnia says.

“And if I said, well, somehow, if I connect a hundred or a thousand or a million of these cells together, it just leads to this magical phenomenon of thought. There’s no mechanism to account for why that should occur. Why would my brain cells, millions of them connected together, suddenly feel guilty, or have a sentiment of guilt, like if I were to throw a brick in my neighbor’s window, or be rude to somebody or do something immoral?”

Near-death experiences

When the heart stops beating, we are pronounced dead. The brain and other organs shut down. Yet, thanks to the evolution of medical science, millions of people are resuscitated and recover. Sometimes, the heart will have stopped for as long as 45 minutes, and many of them report lucid memories of what was happening around them during the event. They sometimes report themselves as floating above their bodies and are able to describe what was going on in the room. Are they experiencing the process of the spirit leaving the body? Is this how the process of life after death begins?

Dr Parnia explains:” They’re able to form memories, describe conversations and what people were wearing. “Except that their brain has shut down and they’ve gone through death. Which is completely a paradox, it should not happen. If your mind is simply a by-product of your brain, if your brain has shut down, there should be no consciousness.”

Dr, Elaine Drysdale, a clinical professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. Says: “ Toddlers aren’t exposed to religious doctrine, Yet they report near-death experiences similar to older children and adults.”

“People are coming back and describing real events that have occurred and that doctors and nurses have verified, validated.” So, by definition, they can’t be hallucinations, because they’re describing real events

­As many as 18 percent of people brought back from death after a heart attack said they’d had a near-death experience.This creates a good possibility that there is indeed life after death.

Children remembering past lives

There are also well-documented cases of children who vividly-recall past lives, out of the blue.

In these cases, we’re not talking about kids using their imaginations. We are talking about kids who have specific memories of people who had died. The documents state that oftentimes these memories include names of relatives, real places, their occupations, and a vivid description of the circumstances at the end of their lives.

Birthmarks or birth defects corresponding to wounds of past life experiences

Dr. Ian Stevenson (1918-2007) was a psychiatrist who investigated parapsychological phenomena such as reincarnation and near-death experiences. He believes that there is life after death and claims that memories and physical injuries can be transferred from one lifetime to another. For example, one of the cases that he studied was a child that remembered a past life where he was shot in the head. That child had a natural marking in the same area where the shooting would have occurred.

Many of these phenomenons need much investigation and study in order to understand this elusive spiritual realm.

The truth is that no one knows what will happen until we experience it. All those experiences account for something important, something that can’t be denied. Life after death is and remains a possibility.

In nature nothing is created, nothing is lost, everything changes.`

― Antoine Lavoisier 1743.