Near-death experiences have become a cottageindustry-but how real are they?
BY JAMES MAURO
"No wonder. No wonder. No wonder."
It's hard, talking to Barbara Harris, not to believe in near-death experiences. Even though she speaks of a Star Warslike "force" pervading her DNA; even though she describes encountering "a cloud of bubbles, each one representing a different moment of my life"; even though she says her experience led her to a realization about herself that she never had before.
"No wonder I am the way I am," she gasps.
Barbara Harris is like the eight million other Americans who, according to a recent poll by George Gallup, Jr., claim to have had a near-death experience (NDE). They have all had visions of lights, tunnels, and dead relatives greeting them and taking them to a place of beauty, warmth, and peace. And they all say they have been profoundly changed by the experience.
Despite literally thousands of stories such as Harris's, however, science is not yet a true believer: There exists no absolute proof that such experiences are more than the product of fancy, fear, or fever. Indeed, almost all of the research to date relies upon anecdotes reported by "NDErs" rather than empirical corroboration of the events.
Stories of an afterlife have been captivating people ever since the sixth century, when Pope Gregory the Great wrote Dialogues, a collection of wonder-tales that included reports of return from death. Although each has the earmarks of a morality tale--with visions of hell instead of heaven--many also contain such elements of modern NDEs as "shining" angels and personality transformations.
But it wasn't until 1975, when psychiatrist Raymond Moody, M.D., wrote a book called Life After Life, that fascination with the subject became widespread. Coining the phrase "near-death experience," Moody reported story after story about the same, now-familiar encounter. The book intrigued a cross-section of curious individuals who begged to know more about what to expect when they die.
Fifteen years later, there are no new answers, but there is a spate of new books containing, mostly, more anecdotes. There is also a growing acceptance by the scientific community that something may be happening to these eight million people. Regardless of whether they are "meeting God" or simply hallucinating, NDErs routinely report that they have undergone a personality transformation--usually in the form of decreased anxiety about death, less concern with material matters, and a general feeling of peace about their lives.
It is this phenomenon that has finally attracted researchers. Rather than attempting to prove the existence of an afterlife, they have begun to study NDEs in order to learn more about brains, minds, and that elusive quality called well-being. If NDErs have truly benefited from their experience, perhaps they have something to teach us that might advance therapeutic methods for all kinds of problems--from the dilemmas of suicidal patients to the enduring pain of those who have been abused as children. And possibly, along the way, we just might learn something about what happens when we die.
A Real "Event" or Mass Hysteria?
What exactly constitutes a near-death experience? By examining thousands of reports, researchers such as Seattle pediatrician Melvin Morse, M.D., have identified the common elements that define the experience. In his book, Transformed by the Light (Villard; 1992), he lists nine traits that generally characterize a "full-blown" NDE:
1) A sense d being dead: the sudden awareness that one has had a 'fatal" accident or not survived an operation.
2) Peace and painlessness: a feeling that the ties that bind one to the world have been cut.
3) An out-of-body experience: the sensation peering down one's body and perhaps seeing the doctors and nurses trying to resuscitate.
4) Tunnel experience: the sense of moving up or through a narrow passageway.
5) People of Light being met at the end of the tunnel by others who are "glowing."
6) A Being of Light the presence of a God-like figure or a force d some kind.
7) Life review: being shown one's the by the being of light.
8) Reluctance to return: the feeling of being comfortable and surrounded by the Light, often described as "pure love."
9) Personality transformation: a psychological change involving loss of the fear of death, greater spiritualism, a sense of "connectedness" with the Earth, and greater zest for life.
Although Morse's compilation of characteristics is drawn from the self-reports of NDErs, that doesn't mean there's nothing to them. In fact, evidence of their validity may be found in the startling consistency of such reports:
"I felt myself floating up, out of my bed. Looking down, I could see myself lying there, motionless."
"I moved through something dark and churning. I guess you could call it a tunnel, or a passageway."
"Suddenly there were people around me, some I knew, who were lit from within. I turned and felt myself pulled toward this bright light. It was so forceful, warm and loving. I never felt anything so peaceful and beautiful."
Yet there are enough variations to lead critics to discount NDEs as mere hallucinations. Morse relates the following story of a 45-year-old Midwestern teacher:
Tags:
absolute proof,
barbara harris,
conscious,
corroboration,
dead relatives,
death,
dialogues,
earmarks,
george gallup jr,
moment of my life,
nders,
near death experience,
near death experiences,
pope gregory,
raymond moody,
recent poll,
shining angels,
sixth century,
transcendental,
true believer,
tunnel experience,
visions of hell
