Mysticism/Life After Death

Over the centuries, the life after death has been a topic of much theological discussion. Essentially there are five references to a life after death: the quantum physics (Professor Dürr), the near death research (Pam Reynolds), the after death research (Karmapa), the reincarnation cases (Shanti Devi) and the statements of the enlightened (the clairvoyant).

Is There a Life After Death?

Quantum physics has proven by physical tests that a higher dimension in the universe exists (Alain Aspect). The former head of the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich, Professor Hans-Peter Dürr believes that the brain by thinking forms a field of consciousness (quantum field) that can exist after the death of the body in the higher dimension further.

You are 78 years old. Do you believe in for afterlife? Is there existence after death? Professor Dürr: "That is an interesting question. What we consider the here and now, this world, is actually just the material level. The beyond is an infinite reality that is much bigger, which this world is rooted in. In this way, our lifes in this plane of existence are encompassed, surrounded, by the afterworld already. If I imagine that I have written my existence in this world on a sort of hard drive on the tangible (the brain) and that I have also transferred this data onto the spiritual quantum field (the spirit, the indepenendent consciousness), then I could say that I do not lose this information, this conscioiusness. The body dies but the spiritual quantum field continues. In this way, I am immortal." (P.M. Magazin 05/2007)

Near death experience

Wikipedia: Near death research. The near death research confirms that the mind can think independently from the body. 1991 the 35 year-old Pam Reynolds underwent a brain operation. Her blood was routed from her brain and she was placed in a state of artificial coma. Her head was attached with wires to measure brain waves. It was ascertained that no brain waves could travel during this half an hour. The thought processes were blocked, and examined as no hormone release could occur. Hallucinations were not possible in this state. And it just so happened that Pam Reynolds had her out of body experience at this time.

She floated with her soul out of her body. She observed from above all of the details of her operation. She then floated through a tunnel to a world of light. There, she met her dead grandmother and other people. The beings there lived in a paradise dimension and possessed positive energy. With their energy, they strengthened Ms. Reynolds so that she could go through her operation successfully. In a BBC interview, Pam Reynolds explained that she had experienced the breath of God. (Video Pam Reynolds)

The special aspect of the case of Pam Reynolds lies with the fact that modern measurement equipment showed that the consciousness of a person exists even when the stuff of the brain is shut off. This leads one to conclude that there must be an independent consciousness separate from the body. The body and soul are two independent manifestations of energy.

The arguments of the atheists

The main argument of Gerald M. Woerlee (2005) is that Pam should have been awake during the operation. This argument is very questionable. With a heavy brain surgery one can not awake and can not follow the conversations in the room and watch the proceedings. Especially when the blood is pumped out largely from the brain, the ears stoppered and the eyes are connected, and a cessation of brain waves is measured. There are many cases of near-death experience and all to explained by a wake at the operation is very questionable. Waking up in the anesthesia is 1.3 from 1000 people. Near-death experiences have about 30% of the people. So the near-death experiences usually can not be explained by an awakening during the operation.

Woerlee: I can look back on more than 20 years of professional experience as an anesthesiologist, and it has always fascinated me, how the body is able to create seemingly paranormal experiences. So I know that this experience was caused by the interaction of the reactions of Pam Reynolds’ bodies and their consciousness of her situation and her anesthesia.

Nils: “Knowledge” is an unacceptable claim. You would have said better: “I believe …”

Woerlee: Sometimes the concentration of the anesthetics for a narcotic effect is not enough. These people stay awake: they hear what’s going on in their environment, they feel the work of surgeons and other persons and see what happens when their eyes are open.

Nils: A wake up under anesthesia comes at 1.3 from 1000 people. Near-death experiences have about 30% of the people. So the near-death experiences usually can not be explained by an awakening during the operation. “If their eyes are open.” Pam Reynolds eyes were closed.

Woerlee: As Pam Reynolds during the operation several times was conscious, I suspect, however, that neither isoflurane nor enflurane were used as additional anesthetics. Without the application of these gases it is likely that the patient wakes up during surgery, and that’s what happened to Pam Reynolds.

Nils: You simply assert without proof that Pam Reynolds is woken up several times during the operation. This is very unlikely.

Woerlee: The screech of the saw woke Pam Reynolds.

Nils: The saw does not have the volume of a chainsaw, but the buzz of an electric toothbrush. In a deep anesthesia one does not awake from this.

Woerlee: She could hear people talking to each other.

Nils: The ears were stoppered. It is very unlikely that she could follow the operation talks.

Woerlee: A malfunction of the brain, triggered by the interaction of anesthetics with the abnormal function of muscle fibers evoked the body experience.

Nils: That is a claim without sufficient evidence.

Woerlee: The high-frequency sound of the pneumatic saw, together with the subsequent feeling that her skull was sawed open, called in her memories the image of a device that looked like a dentist drill.

Nils: You use the term “safe” when you think highly speculative. You try to convince the reader your view of things. Pam Reynolds said, however, that she had expected a kind of saw. And she described previously completely unknown details: “I had assumed that they would open the skull with a saw. I had heard the term saw, but what I then saw reminded me more of a drill. There were also several small drills in a box that looked like the tool box of my father when I was a child.”

On closer inspection, the arguments of Woerlee dissolve. There are thousands of further researches. Who wants to know exactly, should familiarize themselves thoroughly in the research. I did that to me. And other people did so too and came to the same results as I.

The experts largely agree that there is no natural explanation. At the moment, the most speaks for the duality of the brain and soul. Even in science is hotly debated. There are different camps. There are the materialists and the holistic thinker. And that’s good. The result is progress.

---> Quote from the homepage of the Human base project in December 2009: The attending physician, Dr. Spetzler does not believe that Pam could know the facts from a previous observation: “There were the devices for her just not visible. The drills and the other things were covered or wrapped. They will not be discovered or unpacked, before the patient is not fully asleep. This is necessary to keep the area sterile.” “In this phase of the operation, no one can see or hear something. It is inconceivable that in this phase senses like hearing do work. Apart from that, we put earphones for the click test in her ears. There was no way for her to hear the talks.”

The death of the 16. Karmapa

Enlightened Tibetan masters traditionally stay in their bodies for three days after death. This is recognized by the fact that their bodies do not begin to decompose and that the heart chakra is warm. This fact can be explained with the continuation of life after death. The 16th Karmapa died in 1981 in a hospital in Chicago. He stayed three days after his death with his soul in his body and he showed the special abilities of an high enlightened. The body did not rot in that time and the heart region was warm. Dr. Levy cared for him until his death:

"Early the next day he died actually. We saw the change on the monitors. The heart pulse changed in a way, that clearly shows that the heart fails. (...) With all the drugs we could not get him high again. We continued to work, gave medications, and then his heart stand still. I realized that it was over. You could see his heart die on the monitor. This was the point when I gave up. His Holiness had been lying there dead about 45 minutes. We started to pull out the feeding tube, when I suddenly saw that his blood pressure was 140 to 80. My first reaction was that someone leans against the pressure monitor. It was impossible that he became alive again. Then a nurse screamed: "He has a good pulse! ! He has a good pulse." One of the older Rinpoche patted me on the back, as if he wanted to say:" It is impossible, but it happens." The heart rate of His Holiness was 80, his blood pressure 140 to 80th in that moment. No one said a word now. It was a moment of "That does not exist. It can not be." It was clearly the greatest miracle that I had ever seen. I mean, it was not only an extraordinary moment. It happened an hour after his heart beating had stopped. I ran out of the room to tell Trungpa Rinpoche, that His Holiness is alive again. I had the impression that His Holiness returned to try if this body can still carry his spirit. So he came back to see if his body was still usable. Only the power of his returning consciousness could do that."

„48 hours after his death, his chest was still warm. In this moment, my hands were both warm, and his chest was warmer than my hand. In order to test this, I moved my hands to the side of his chest, away from his heart, and there it was cold. I then felt the middle again, and above his heart it was warm. I pinched his skin and found that it was still elastic and completely normal. After 36 hours, the dead typically have skin comparable to dough. And his skin was still like that of the living after 48 hours. It was as if he weren’t dead. Shortly after we left the room, the surgeon came and said, „ he is warm, he is warm.“ And then it came to be that the medical staff asked again and again if he were still warm. It was naturally consistent to the traditional Tibetan experience. Developed individuals like his Holiness stay in their bodies after breath and heartbeat have stopped, within a state of deep meditation. After three days the Samadhi ended. It was recognized that his Holiness was no longer warm and that the process of death set in. After this, the atmosphere changed, it too became normal.” (Quotes buddhismus-heute.de)

Discussion Over the Death of the Karmapa

Nils: The Tibetan masters have considered how they can prove the existence of the soul beyond death. They prove this in that after physical death, the soul remains in the body for three days. Enlightened masters possess this ability. This is recognizable in that the heart chakra remains warm and the body doesn’t decompose, and the presence of the master can be perceived by sensitive people.

What is special in the case of the Karamapa is that he selected a normal, Western hospital in America, with average, everyday doctors as witnesses. Interesting is that the Karmapa had already “died” to the point where the doctors had given up and had turned off the measuring devices when the Karmapa returned to his body and lived on, according to the reports of the doctors responsible for treating him. These things cannot be explained in material terms. I don’t know of any account of this matter in which atheists could make some comment. They remain silent when presented with the facts.

Thale: All of these examples do not serve as proof for life after death.

Nils: Amit Goswami established that an information field (the Other Side, a quantum field, a higher dimension, consciousness field) must exist behind the material cosmos. That can be proven according to quantum physics. To get more into detail, I recommend the book “ The Conscious Universe” from Amit Goswami, and the book “God’s Secret Thoughts”, from Volker Becker. Even the String theory, which dominates physics at the moment, says that a higher dimension is recognized as existing in the material cosmos. A higher field of information is implied in the String Theory. The big question is only whether the human brain can really build an independent quantum field capable of existing in the context of a higher information field after death. Dürr implied it according to near death research. According to the Karmapa case and statements made by clairvoyants and enlightened individuals, it is likely. A complete change of point of view on the part of science is represented here, which most atheists have unfortunately failed to notice. I am here to change that.

Thale: The Karmapa case could have been the result of any number of things.

Nils: That’s right. But up to now, no one has been able to explain it. The continued existence of the soul after death is the most probable explanation up to this point. So long as the further existence of the soul after death is likelier than the non-existence of it, one should live oriented around this idea.

Thale: The Karmapa incident can also be attributed to genetic makeup, coincidence, imagination, through any number of things.

Nils: This statement proves your lack of insight. A warm heart chakra definitely cannot be explained through genetic predisposition. Who can think up such nonsense? Coincidence isn’t a very good argument either, particularly when said coincidence occurs again and again. The enlightened masters of Tibetan Buddhism spend three days after death in their bodies, and there are hundreds of examples of this on record. I also find it amazing that you refer to hundreds of other phenomena without giving sources. You are well-schooled in Sophism, but every sophist can be proved wrong with clear reasoning. I have also forgotten the point relating to imagination. The Karmapa died in a western hospital. That a doctor in such a setting would imagine a warm heart chakra and elastic skin, is unlikely. He examined the Karmapa thoroughly after death, because he could hardly believe his own observations. Furthermore, there are many similar cases and the rest of the hospital staff also saw the Karmapa.

Thale: Show me the evidence for the existence of an afterlife.

Nils: If you want evidence, look at near death research, the death of the Karmapa, the reports of the afterlife from clairvoyants and the enlightened, the experiences acquired through regression therapy, reincarnation research, quantum physics experiments (especially Alain Aspect, but many other experiments are described in the book by Amit Goswami). Parapsychology also indicates the existence of higher cosmic dimensions.

Thale: But you need to show us the basis for your knowledge that you use to prove the sceptics wrong.

Nils: The basis of the existence of the soul after death is the duality from the body and the consciousness. The soul is consciousness energy. The soul consists of thoughts and feelings. The soul is a cloud of consciousness that is in and around the body. The soul is an oscillating connection to a higher cosmic information field. The deciding point is whether there is such a higher cosmic information field. The experiments conducted in quantum physics speak in favor of this. The string theory also speaks in favor of it. The findings of near death research and the experiences of clairvoyants also refer to the existence of a higher information field. There are many indications for the existence of a higher cosmic dimension. When there is such a higher dimension, then it is quite possible that the consciousness of humans can also survive after death.

Reincarnation research

Wikipedia: reincarnation research. The reincarnation research approaches more and more to the fact that there are past lives. Thousands of reports were investigated . The witnesses could accurately describe the previous places and situations, although they were never there and had heard nothing about it in the normal way. The most well-known reincarnation researcher in the West is Professor Ian Stevenson from the University of Virginia. He examined over the course of 40 years over 3.000 reincarnations situations throughout the world. Often, he noticed similarities in behavior and bodily signals in line with the former incarnation.

One of the most well-known cases of reincarnation in India is Shanti Devi. She was born in 1926 in New Delhi and could remember her previous life as a house wife in Mathura. Although she was never in that location, she was able to describe her previous husband, her previous house, and the city itself. She could even remember where she had always hidden her money in her former life.

Nils Horn, "My beliefs are based mainly on my own experiences. I have seen about thousand previous lifes in the course of my spiritual cleansing processes. After seven years as a Yogi, I was suddenly overcome by the wish to know my earlier life. I went back in my meditation to a previous time and felt resonance with a particular time. I felt a sort of resistance, and looked in that direction and could spiritually “see” four earlier lifes. After eleven years as a Yogi, many former lifes came in dreams to the surface of my consciousness. Differing from the conscious perceptions while meditating, very clear film-like scenes- appeared. I could see the details of the situations and the environment I was in at the time of the previous life. From the single pictures I could see geographical details."

The Statements of the Enlightened

Who is enlightened can, thanks to its expanded consciousness, look in the beyond and know the life after death. One might think that the enlightened are imagining their perceptions. Against this speak, however, the attempts with the clairvoyants. The American professor Gary Schwartz tested the most well-known mediums of the United States from 1998 to 2001. The mediums could experience the beyond with their spirits and make contact with the dead. Gary Schwartz compared their statements about distanced things with a control group of average people. The medium had a ratio of correct answers of 83%, whereas the control group got only 36%. If the mediums know things far away it is very possible, that also their knowing about things in the beyond is correct. (Bernard Jakoby, Wir sterben nie, (2009).)

All of the religions of the world assume that there is life after death. A quote from Swami Shivananda, “The person is not this body. Body and mind are change, loss and death; whereas the real human, the eternal self (Atman) always is. One has a body, but is not that body. One has a mind, but is not the mind. Death is not the end. Death Is not total deletion. Death does not end the rebirth of the soul. The soul does not die with the body. The soul is immortal. Just as a person takes off a jacket, death lays aside the physical body. The body is the skin of the soul. The soul is the steering wheel of the car of the body. If the body is destroyed, the spirit lives on. One still has thoughts, mental processes, will power, and a subtle body. Through the grace of God and Sat-Guru I am unburdened and free. All doubt and disappointment have disappeared. I am free and blissful forever. I am free of fear, as I rest in this non-dualistic state. Fear arises from duality. I am intoxicated with God. I have reached freedom. I live in pure consciousness. I have won the game of life.”

Discussion On MyKath.de 2013

Volker: I am familiar with the “tests” regarding reincarnation where people are hypnotized and then asked about their past lives. The only problem is, people in hypnotized states can make up stories and lie just as they can when awake, with the distinction that they do not know that they are just telling stories. The information they give belongs to two categories. First, it deals with information where the general truth is established or can be researched and verified immediately, so that anyone can figure out the degree of truth of what they are saying. That the hypnotized person doesn’t know what he or she is saying consciously is no argument. The second category of things a hypnotized person tells deals with information that cannot be verified. Another interesting category is things the person tells which no one can know, but can in fact be verified. An example of that would be a hidden treasure that no one knows about, but can be searched for to see if the information holds true. That I know of no hypnotized person who tells of such things is suspicious.

Nils: You are unfortunately not correct with that. There are many examples of such cases. Reincarnation research has searched for such examples and has found many. I know of a situation where an English woman was burnt as a witch in the Middle Ages in France. She could say exactly where the documents were and what they said. They weren’t known to anyone beforehand. On TV there were various broadcasts of some regression therapy. In hypnosis certain facts were given that sent the TV team to certain places mentioned. And then it was considered whether the person could have known these things beforehand or if they were really dealing with situations from previous lives. There are some videos on the internet. You can look for them if you have time. The case of Shanti Devi is so interesting because she knew things that no one could know under ordinary circumstances. She was born in New Dehli in 1926 and remembered as a child her previous life as a housewife in 128 km distant Mathura. Although she was never there, she could remember her previous husband, the house ,and the town. She even remembered where she had hidden her money earlier. A test showed that she was right.

Dr. Arthur Guirdham was a British doctor, psychiatric doctor and writer. He believed that he was the rebirth of the Cathar priest named Roger de Grisolles. A patient who was referred to him had recurring nightmares where she was a farm girl in Toulouse, France. She was friends with a priest named Roger de Grisolles. He was arrested and died later in prison. The girl was burnt at the stake. She could relate that in detail. Guirdham had similar nightmares since his childhood. As the patient told what she had to say, she said he was that priest she had seen in her dream. Guirdham was impressed and began to research. The occurances and names in the dream were confirmed.

Matzdan (atheist): There aren’t ”many cases”, rather some. Even if there is reincarnation, it doesn’t make much of a difference for millions of people. So what use is reincarnation anyway?

Nils: It’s nice that we are both of the opinion that there are some such cases. Of course there are only a few cases where there is such clear evidence. There are many known cases of reincarnation. But it is difficult to find these specific cases. I think life is multi-faceted. Some souls reincarnate and some develop on the “other side”, so to speak. Souls develop. All religions are in agreement there. What is important is how we are developing. We develop forward to inner peace, bliss and love. Or we revert, we go backwards to suffering, unhappiness, fear and hate. Knowledge of reincarnation is helpful because then we are able to think further than death. We should try to live positively so we have a good existence in the next life. We can do something ourselves to have a good next life. We can also make it so, that we step out of the circle of reincarnation. We can come to eternal life on the other side. One can come out of the circle of reincarnation when one has practiced spiritually in an intensive manner and has become enlightened before death. Or, if one has an enlightened helper like Jesus who can bring one to paradise when one dies. An enlightened master or saint has free choice after death whether he or she will go to the light and stay there or not, according to the teachings of Indian Yoga. The alternative is to come back to earth and to help one’s fellow humans. In Buddhism there is the Bodhisattva and in Hinduism there is enlightened Karma Yoga (Siddha Yoga with special powers). Many enlightened people know their earlier lives and have chosen again and again to return to earth. One example is Amritatanandamayi who described this in her book ”Mother of Eternal Bliss”. Like Buddha, she also saw her earlier life.

Volker: The problem is, many of these cases are consciously deceiving. In addition, there are more questions remaining than answers. As almost always, you can see, for example, in the film about Elisabeth from Thuringia a blatant error: an expert on the castle accompanies the woman, who then establishes where the wall or moat or blockades were. Sorry, but I can easily imagine a Clever Hans effect at work. In a fair discussion, or when one is really interested in the truth of a matter, the same criteria are given in each instance.

Nils: I’m also for a fair discussion. I think we both are having a fair discussion here, which doesn’t mean that we are going to come to the same conclusions through the same facts. One can always find a different interpretation from the same thing. The points of the argument can carry varied weight for different people. As an atheist can one always explain certain phenomena with the arguments of deception, self-delusion or mistake. I believe that one cannot explain the given case through deception. Certainly, deception occurs sometimes. But the given cases are so important and well-known that they have been tested and checked out by many people. That is especially true for the Shanti Devi case, where many expert commissions investigated several times. Reincarnation research is directly involved with the ruling out of deception, self- delusion and error. In fact, only in a few cases could that be found to be true. Most cases are found to be indisputable. Also, the many positive reincarnation cases that are shown on TV cannot all be explained away with mental tricks.

Volker: I think many of these can be explained away, that they are the result of mental tricks because I know more about such mental tricks than most magicians. There are still some that cannot be explained by anything but coincidence. This reminds me of a discussion with a historical expert (something like with Elisabeth from Thuringia) about a “Cold reading” and muscle reading. In addition, one can remember things under hypnosis that one hasn’t had conscious access to in a long time.

Nils: You have your explanations, and your theories. I don’t want to take that away from you. Everyone has to see things for himself and then find his own decision. People in the videos have considered and decided carefully for themselves. When they take that to be reincarnation, one has to accept that first, outside of proving an error of thinking. As viewer, one also has to make a decision. That will surely be different by convinced atheists than from those who are open to the possibility of reincarnation. You believe in atheism. I find it good that you even admit that there remain cases where one cannot explain away what is happening. That is the way it is. I have personally seen over a thousand earlier lives. I have checked the facts and have built up my conviction. And that is how I will leave it. You have your conviction, I have my conviction. And that is good the way it is. We live in a pluralistic society.

Paradise Meditation

With this meditation, we purify our mind of stress. We learn something about the way to Paradise. We get into a life in the light. We realize happiness in our life. We become a master of life and awaken our enlightenment energy.

The Body

We concentrate on our bodies and through this process bring the spirit into a state of peace. We sense this through our legs and feet as we let the light circulate through our lower limbs. We think of the word “light” as our mantra. We let the light then circulate through our arms and hands while envisioning the word “light”. We then wrap our entire bodies in a vision of light and think of the word at the same time. Then we relax.

Energy Cloud

We begin our ascent to heaven. First we enter the astral world. We become a soul. We then visualize a cloud composed of very fine energy which encircles the body. We are this cloud. We concentrate on the cloud and not our bodies. We leave the body and think of the mantra “I am a cloud. I am a soul. I am independent from my body.” We think of this mantra until we can feel this cloud.

Stars

We visualize the entire cosmos around us as full of stars. Our souls can travel anywhere they so desire. We meditate on the cosmos. We think of the mantra “stars”. We make large circles with the arms until we feel at one with the cosmos. We feel secure with our place in the world, we are at one with the world.

The World of Positive Souls

We land in the upper astral world, beyond the material cosmos. This is the world of positive souls. We become positive unto ourselves. We consider the positive points in our lives. We think of the mantra “Positive in my life is...” We count as many positive things as possible, until the soul is glowing with positivity.

The World of Happy Souls

Over the positive souls are the blessed souls. We are now in paradise. We imagine that all our wishes have been fulfilled. What do you wish? Fulfill them or let go of them here. Define the point where you have reached enough. Create contentment with your life. “My way to contentment is...”

The World of the Holy

Above the world of the happy souls lies the world of the enlightened. We become sons and daughters of God, Gods and Goddesses, enlightened Buddhas. We wish for a happy world. We envision the following: “I send light to... May all people be happy. May the world be a happy world.”

The Great Transformation

We move our hand to bless the entire cosmos with love and light. We move light into all areas of suffering. We send all suffering beings light. We surround them with light and think of the mantra “I send light to all suffering beings”. We think of all the problems in our lives and surround these problems with light. We integrate our problems into our life. We become masters of our lives. We surround all our life’s situations with light.

Seventh Heaven

We come to the seventh heaven. We visualize a sun with strong energy composed of peace, love and happiness. The hands lay relaxed in the lap. We think of the mantra, “Sun, peace, love, happiness, light.“ We fill our souls with peace, love, happiness and light, and rest in the light of God (in bliss).

Inner wisdom

We connect ourselves with the Angels, Jesus or God. We rub the palms of our hands in front of the heart chakra and think, "Dear God (Om all enlightened Masters, Angels). Om inner wisdom. Please guide me and help me on my way.”

Return

We move our feet slowly, then stretch and wiggle a bit. We then return to earth and our daily lifes. We are filled with peace, love and optimism.

External links

Wikipedia has related information at Garden of Eden, Heaven, Paradise and Valhalla