Goodbye

I intend to use the last of my posts to say a quick thank you to all those who read and followed my blog. We have certainly had an amazing journey discovering examples of near death experiences, which could point to the existence of life after death. We have also learnt about scientific theories as to why people might have near death experiences, which refute the claims of life after death.

By going through this journey you and I have both learnt that trying to prove the existence of life after death is complex and probably will not be proven or refuted until we get there or we do not after we die , which is what John Hick says in his example of the atheist and the believer.

However despite the fact that it is hard to prove the existence of a life after death for the atheists out there, or the agnostics I hope the examples of near death experiences I have put on my blog have given you something to think about and maybe convince you that there might be more to this life and something that lies beyond the tombstones.

And for all those who believe in life after death I hope my blog has given you more encouragement to continue believing there is life after death.

Thank you for all following my blog, I hope you have all enjoyed reading my posts and I hope they have given you encouragement that there might be something beyond the tombstones!!!!

Bye

Is this all the evidence we need?

Does the fact that children and adults have similar near death experiences provide all the evidence we need to prove that there is a life after death? And does the example in the post I wrote under 'Girls Experience an amazing story' point to the existence of life after death? Unfortunately what I found from looking different websites on the Internet is that it does not. By saying this I really do not mean to dishearten all those likeminded people like me who so desperately want to prove to people that there is a life after death because believe me I do too. But the fact that there are scientists (probably even this very second I am writing and you are reading) who trying to find a factual answer as to why these experiences are happening and putting the theories they have as to why the happen on the Internet, and because the Internet is so easily accessible there will always lead people to think like them. I honestly think however that even if scientists turned around today put their hands up and said they had been mistaken because all the tests they have done point to life after death I think there would still be people like my teacher who say there is no life after death. Why? Personally I think this is because experiences like those I have cited can always be open to criticism, there can always be for example people making comments on websites such as 'that child has a wild imagination' or 'science will one day find the answer to all these experiences and prove to people (like me and maybe you who are reading and believe similar to what I believe) that we are wrong.

But are these people right? As I believe that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion i have to say yes it is right. Furthermore as my belief is not proven I would have never turned around to be teacher for example and said 'you are wrong there is life after death so you have to believe there is'. However nor has his. In this sense with regards to issues such as life after death and any other religious issue for that matter I believe we must all do what Soten Kierkegaard says and make a leap of faith. We must all for example despite the doubt in our minds and the Internet websites which try to explain away near death experiences by theories take a leap and say these experiences do point to the existence of life after death because there is so many of them to discuss. There are also so many that are convincing enough (for example the experience of the young girl on one of my previous posts) to show there must be something more and the belief of them is not people trying to make the thought of death easier. This is because I believe people believe that there is a life after death from reading experiences, as I have done.

After reading my blogs and the experiences I have given from the Internet what do think? Is life after death a fabrication for people to believe in to cope with inevitable death? Or does life after death really exist?

Children's Near Death Experiences. Proof of Life After Death?

On setting out to see if children have similar near death experiences as adults I typed in Life after Death: Children into YouTube. Although there were lots of clips that came onto my screen the most fascinating clip I found on this website was the following:

What I found interesting about this clip is that it says children, some of which are even too young enough to write, explain similar accounts of what the afterlife looks like after having a near death experiences as adults do. This clip certainly got me thinking for if children this young have experienced similar things as adults have surely it discounts the sceptical belief that the experiences are either caused because we recall a collective image of what we believe the afterlife is at the moment of death or because they are caused by hallucinogenic drugs. This is because I find it difficult to believe that children so young would even know what the afterlife is let alone have developed a image of what it looks like. I think we would also all agree that children this young would not be on any hallucinogenic drugs to bring about this affect. But does this really provide evidence that there is life after death? Whilst I find the clip convincing Scientists would probably discount this as evidence using various theories. However as these are only theories I see no reason why the idea that there is life after death should be discounted because it is just as credible as the theories science has to offer. Personally I think those we reject any possibility of there being life after death should look at clips such as this one with a more open mind to let in the possibility of there being something beyond this world. This is because I think the fact that children and adults are both explaining the same things of the afterlife in their near death experiences provides a possibility that there could be life after death. What do you think?

Glimmer of Hope

I have to admit that my feelings of defeat in the face of my teacher about the non existence of a life after death left me when I received a comment on my last blog. This comment suggested that if there is indeed no afterlife how come so many near death experiences are similar despite the fact that each person has never met each other. One person who commented on my blog believed that the reason for this is could because religion leaves what Carl Jung describes as a collective subconscious in people's minds who then remember it at the time of death or because of an unexplained scientific phenomenon. I guess some people would even to go the extreme and say, as another person commented on my blog did, that the experiences cannot be used to point to a religious experience because similar things have happened to people after they have taken an hallucagenic drug. Whilst I am in no position to completely discount what these people say, I find it difficult to believe that the vast amount of people who had have the SAME EXPERIENCES are wrong. How could for example you explain away a near death experience of a child that is similar to an adults by saying that similar things have happened to people whilst on drugs? Between now and the next blog I therefore intend to research the Internet to see if I can find cases of children who have experienced similar near death experiences that are similar to adult accounts. This is because by doing so I believe that it would discount the secular idea that society or religion has instilled into them a cliche of what an afterlife is that they recall at the moment of death. For children are less likely to be affected by portrayals in the media or religious doctrines. Wish me luck!!

What does science tell us?

After searching the Internet it became apparent that the young girl's near death experience was not the only one. There are many ranging from people saying that they were lifted out of their body so they could see the surgeons performing an operation on them to the extraordinary ones who say they went towards a bright light, saw a deceased loved one or even a divine figure. Whilst these cases are amazing, and in my view point to the existence of life after death, I found a website highlighting the scientific theories of near death experiences refuting any claims of a life after death (I can only assume my teacher believes what they say). For this website pointed out that they have developed a number of theories as to why people have near death experiences. These are;

1) Dying Brain Theory

2) Charles Darwin's Theory

3) Hallucination Theory

4) Temporal Lobe Theory

5) Lack of Oxygen Theory

6) Depersonalization Theory

7) Memory of Birth Theory

8) Afterlife Theory.

I have to admit that when I read the scientific theories behind near death experiences I became saddened. This is because when I set out writing my blogs I really wanted to find convincing evidence that there is life after death. However, because these theories are extremely convincing I find it difficult to believe that many people would reject them and believe near death experiences point to a life after death. At the moment I feel disheartened that the experiences I have been reading about are just examples of what can occur in the mind because of the death process. I am also beginning to think my teacher was right. What do you think? All I know is that I cannot give up on my search so early; I must continue to look on the Internet for any proof, even small that can prove that there is something else that lies beyond the tombstones..........

Religious Views

After my initial excitement from reading the experience of the young girl I thought it would be necessary to see what religion says about such experiences to hopefully find out if my excitement was justified or it was just me being drawn into a story about a little girl with a wild imagination. I thought the best place to find this information was from religious tolerance.org This is because this site provides informative information about religious beliefs. When I entered the homepage I typed in 'what happens after we die' and selected the first option given to me. When read what came on my screen I discovered there is a general agreement among all religions that after death we will experience one of the following: a) Heaven b) Hell c) Annihilation (where everything rots and you cease to be- usually from sceptical, secular religious beliefs) d) Transmigration of the soul (where our soul and spirit are reborn into a human) e) Reincarnation (where our soul and spirit is reborn into anything) When reading this and keeping in mind the story of the young girl I certainly believe my excitement was justified. This is because as religions generally believe there is a life after death I think we should approach the story, not with scepticism but with a mind open to the possibility that the young girl experienced a near death experience proving that there is in fact an afterlife. What do you think? I certainly believe we should!

Girl's experience: An amazing story!

On setting out to see what evidence I could find from the Internet on whether or not there is life after death I began by typing in 'Is there a Life after Death' into Google and selected the first option given to me. What appeared on my screen was an extremely fascinating article As soon as I began reading this article I instantly became immersed into it. This is because it talked about children as young as seven who have had near death experiences to provide evidence that there could be a life after death. The most interesting of the cases I read on this site was one of a seven year old girl who, after being resuscitated because she spend 19 minutes underwater began to draw pictures and describe an accurate description of her own resuscitation! What interested me the most about this case however was that after she had done this she then told the doctor that she believed had to go back to her body because she had to help her mother with her unborn brother and drew a picture of the boy with a red heart (he was born several months later with a heart disease) I found this case so extraordinary and hard to dismiss simply because it was a seven year old girl who was describing this near death experience. I mean how could this child have been able to tell the doctor of her own resuscitation without this case being authentic? And is it a coincidence that her brother was born with a heart disease or did she know he would be because she drew a red heart in her drawing of him? I am feeling extremely excited because I think that I may have found something to point to the existence of a life after death. What do you think? Am I just being drawn into a story, which is of a seven year old child with just a wild imagination or is this really an amazing case to point to the existence of a life after death, which my teacher so readily dismissed? I am going to continue to search more on the Internet to see if I can find more about this topic to try and prove that there is life after death. Wish me luck!