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The question of what will happen after death has interested humanity since ancient times - from the very moment thoughts about the meaning of one’s own individuality appeared. Will consciousness and personality be preserved after the death of the physical shell? Where does the soul go after death? scientific facts and the statements of believers equally firmly prove and disprove the possibility of an afterlife, immortality, the evidence of eyewitnesses and scientists equally converges and contradicts each other.

Evidence for the existence of the soul after death

Humanity has been striving to prove the presence of a soul (anima, atman, etc.) since the eras of the Sumerian-Akkadian and Egyptian civilizations. In fact, all religious teachings are based on the fact that a person consists of two essences: material and spiritual. The second component is immortal, the basis of personality, and will exist after the death of the physical shell. What scientists say about life after death does not contradict most theologians’ theses about the existence of the afterlife, since science originally emerged from monasteries, when monks were collectors of knowledge.

After scientific revolution in Europe, many practitioners tried to isolate and prove the existence of the soul in the material world. At the same time, Western European philosophy defined self-awareness (self-determination) as the source of a person, his creative and emotional urges, and the stimulus for reflection. Against this background, the question arises - what will happen to the spirit that forms the personality after the destruction of the physical body.

Before the development of physics and chemistry, evidence for the existence of the soul was based exclusively on philosophical and theological works (Aristotle, Plato, canonical religious works). In the Middle Ages, alchemy tried to isolate the anima not only of humans, but also of any elements, flora and fauna. Modern science of life after death and medicine are trying to document the presence of a soul based on the personal experience of eyewitnesses who lived through the experience clinical death, medical data and changes in the condition of patients at different points in their lives.

In Christianity

The Christian Church (in its world-recognized directions) treats human life as a preparatory stage for the afterlife. This does not mean that the material world is not important. On the contrary, the main thing that a Christian faces in life is to live in such a way as to subsequently go to heaven and find eternal bliss. Evidence of the presence of a soul is not required for any religion; this thesis is the basis for religious consciousness, without it it makes no sense. Confirmation of the existence of the soul for Christianity can indirectly come from the personal experience of believers.

The soul of a Christian, if you believe the dogmas, is a part of God, but capable of independently making decisions, creating and creating. Therefore, there is the concept of posthumous punishment or reward, depending on how a person treated the fulfillment of the commandments during material existence. In fact, after death, two key states are possible (and an intermediate one - only for Catholicism):

• paradise is a state of highest bliss, being close to the Creator;
• hell is a punishment for an unrighteous and sinful life that contradicted the commandments of faith, a place of eternal torment;
• purgatory is a place that is present only in the Catholic paradigm. The abode of those who die in peace with God, but need additional cleansing from sins unredeemed during life.

In Islam

Second world religion, Islam, according to its dogmatic foundations (the principle of the universe, the presence of a soul, posthumous existence) is not fundamentally different from Christian postulates. The presence of a particle of the Creator inside a person is determined in the suras of the Koran and the religious works of Islamic theologians. A Muslim must live decently and keep the commandments in order to go to heaven. Unlike the Christian dogma of the Last Judgment, where the judge is the Lord, Allah does not take part in determining where the soul will go after death (two angels judge - Nakir and Munkar).

In Buddhism and Hinduism

In Buddhism (in the European sense) there are two concepts: atman (spiritual essence, higher self) and anatman (the absence of an independent personality and soul). The first refers to out-of-body categories, and the second to the illusions of the material world. Therefore, there is no precise definition of which specific part goes to nirvana (Buddhist paradise) and dissolves in it. One thing is certain: after the final immersion in the afterlife, everyone’s consciousness, from the point of view of Buddhists, merges into the common Self.

Human life in Hinduism, as the bard Vladimir Vysotsky accurately noted, is a series of migrations. The soul or consciousness is not placed in heaven or hell, but depending on the righteousness of earthly life, it is reborn into another person, animal, plant or even stone. From this point of view, there is much more evidence of post-mortem experience, because there is a sufficient amount of recorded evidence when a person completely told his previous life (considering that he could not know about it).

In ancient religions

Judaism has not yet defined its attitude to the very essence of the soul (neshamah). In this religion, there are a huge number of directions and traditions that may contradict each other even in basic principles. Thus, the Sadducees are sure that Neshama is mortal and perishes along with the body, while the Pharisees considered it immortal. Some movements of Judaism are based on accepted Ancient Egypt the thesis that the soul must go through a cycle of rebirths to achieve perfection.

In fact, every religion is based on the fact that the purpose of earthly life is the return of the soul to its creator. The belief of believers in the existence of an afterlife is based for the most part on faith, rather than on evidence. But there is no evidence to refute the existence of the soul.

Death from a scientific point of view

The most accurate definition of death, which is accepted among the scientific community, is irreversible loss of vital functions. Clinical death involves a short-term cessation of breathing, circulation and brain activity, after which the patient returns to life. The number of definitions of the end of life, even among modern medicine and philosophy, exceeds two dozen. This process or fact remains as much a mystery as the fact of the presence or absence of a soul.

Evidence of life after death

“There are many things in the world, friend Horace, that our sages never dreamed of” - this Shakespearean quote with a great degree of accuracy reflects the attitude of scientists towards the unknowable. After all, just because we don’t know about something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Finding evidence of the existence of life after death is an attempt to confirm the existence of a soul. Materialists claim that the whole world consists of only particles, but the presence of an energetic entity, substance or field that creates a person does not contradict classical science due to lack of evidence (for example, the Higgs boson, a recently discovered particle, was considered fiction).

Testimonies of people

In these cases, the stories of people are considered reliable, which are confirmed by an independent commission of psychiatrists, psychologists and theologians. Conventionally, they are divided into two categories: memories of past lives and stories of survivors of clinical death. The first case is the experiment of Ian Stevenson, who established about 2000 facts of reincarnation (under hypnosis, the test subject cannot lie, and many of the facts indicated by patients were confirmed by historical data).

Descriptions of the state of clinical death are often explained by oxygen starvation, which the human brain experiences at this time, and are treated with a considerable degree of skepticism. However, strikingly identical stories that have been recorded for more than one decade may indicate that it is impossible to exclude the fact that some entity (soul) emerged from material body at the time of his death. It is worth mentioning a large number of descriptions of small details regarding operating rooms, doctors and the environment, phrases they uttered that patients in a state of clinical death could not know.

History facts

TO historical facts The presence of an afterlife can be attributed to the resurrection of Christ. This does not only mean the basis Christian faith, but a large number of historical documents that were not related to each other, but described the same facts and events in a single period of time. Also, for example, it is worth mentioning the famous recognized signature of Napoleon Bonaparte, which appeared on a document of Louis XVIII in 1821 after the death of the emperor (recognized as authentic by modern historians).

out-of-body experiences, visions that patients experience during operations;

meeting with deceased relatives and people whom the patient might not even know, but described after returning;

general similarity of the experience of near death;

scientific evidence of life after death, based on the study of states of post-mortem transition;

absence of defects in disabled people during out-of-body presence;

the ability of children to remember a past life.

It’s hard to say whether there is evidence of life after death that is 100% reliable. There is always an objective counterthesis to any fact of post-mortem experience. Everyone has individual ideas on this matter. Until the existence of a soul is proven so that even a person far from science agrees with this fact, the debate will continue. However, the scientific world strives for maximum research into subtle matters in order to get closer to understanding scientific explanation human essence.

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Life after death Confession of a dead man Found an error in the text? Select it, press Ctrl + Enter and we will fix everything!

Alexey Svetlov, head of the Scientific Research Laboratory for the Study of Psychic Energy (NILIPE), member of RAIT (Morshansk)

It is the specter of death that closes the gates of knowledge. It is useful to teach about immortality in schools. A religion that teaches death will die, as will all who wish to die, for the future state lies in our consciousness (Teaching of Living Ethics)

The twentieth century showed us terrible examples of lack of spirituality and immorality. One man said: “You only live once…” and betrayed his friend. Another declared: “Even after me there will be a flood” and ransacked the state treasury. This psychology of ignorance finds its quintessence in the following quatrain:

Take everything you can from life:
Take both women and wine,
After all, you can’t multiply life by two,
But you are not destined to live twice!

Materialism and the denial of the spiritual principle have led to the gravest crisis of our civilization, depriving people of hope and causing wars, an increase in crime, and the collapse of states. Elena Ivanovna Roerich wrote:

“The thought of death hangs over the human consciousness like a heavy fate. The ghost of death stands like an inevitable cup, and, having gone through the whole life path, the spirit comes to the conclusion that the phenomenon of life must end here. Such is the walk of the spirit, disconnected from the Cosmos. Not knowing the beginning and seeing only the end, the spirit, disconnected from the Cosmos, goes through life aimlessly. But everyone can earn immortality by accepting Infinity into consciousness. Fearlessness before the end and aspiration towards Infinity will give the spirit that direction towards the spheres of cosmic unlimitedness..." .

“Once upon a time, scientists stopped life, isn’t it their job now to continue life into infinity?... The alternation of incarnations is attested to by both ancient and modern teachings. References to incarnations and karma have become commonplace in our literature. Nevertheless, this reality enters little into consciousness, otherwise it would transform the whole life.”. .

It is the task of scientists to bring knowledge that would restore the disturbed balance of the material and spiritual principles in public consciousness. After all, it is not possible to eliminate the cause of evil - the sting of death - by any other means. Brown Ducasse, a professor from the USA, recently stated:

“It can be argued that the conscious life of an individual continues in some form even after death. This assumption can be considered truly established both from a natural scientific and philosophical point of view. There is empirical evidence that the individual mind survives death."(p.119).

We join this statement and affirm that scientists working in various areas knowledge today already has indisputable evidence of its truth.

Our post will review some scientific works, articles and publications of modern scientists who dispel the specter of death that closed the gates of knowledge. We can identify five main areas of scientific research that confirm the existence of the Subtle World and the continuation of the life of consciousness after the so-called death.

The first is the conceptual approach and justification for the very possibility of the existence of the Subtle World. The following authors worked on this issue: Dubrov, Pushkin, Shipov, Akimov, Volchenko, Baurov, Leskov, Pakhomov and others. Let us briefly dwell on only one work - the article “The Inevitability, Reality and Comprehensibility of the Subtle World” by Vladimir Nikitovich Volchenko, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor of MSTU. Bauman, President of the International Social Scientific Committee “Human Ecology and Energy Informatics”. This work provides a scientific and philosophical justification for the existence of the Subtle World on the basis of spiritual tradition and various phenomena of information and energy exchange at the levels of man, Earth and Space. Human consciousness is viewed from a broader rather than narrowly materialistic perspective. Consciousness is interpreted as an energy-informational structure and, in its highest aspects, a natural part of the Cosmos. The author introduces numerical characteristics of possible boundaries of worlds in the “information content – ​​energy content” coordinate system. Based on the observed trend towards increasing the information efficiency of systems, the possibility of intelligibility of the Subtle World is proven. The properties of the so-called entropy-free information fields and the fifth fundamental interaction are discussed. Possible models of information fields are considered (torsion, buon, psychon, semantic, relic neutrino, axion, longitudinal electromagnetic fields, etc.). The author argues that metaphysics must become a science. The technocratic path of development of human civilization is condemned and a synthetic approach is proposed. The importance of the moral side in evolution is emphasized.

The second direction is the most extensive. It can be described as a substantiation and proof of the objective existence of the so-called “soul” or energy-informational (field, electromagnetic) essence of a person (consciousness). Among the authors who spoke on this topic are Gurvich, Inyushin, Adamenko, Kobozev, Kaznacheev, Mikhailova, Barr, Gulyaev, Godik, Nalimov, Leskov, Kravchenko, Kalashchenko, Pogorelsky, Krippner, Jiang, Gariaev, Dzhan, Krokhalev, McDougall, Korotkov, Choudhary , Presman, Zaporozhets, Serobabin and many others. Let's give short review the most important, in our opinion, works. One of the first scientists to hypothesize about the field nature of human consciousness was the Soviet researcher Gurvich. In the “Selected Works” of this scientist, published in 1977, it is noted that all information about the structure of a potential organism is contained in the total embryonic photon field emitted by each chromosome of the embryo. The author claims that such an integral field creates a wave biofield framework, a plan according to which the construction or self-organization of cells into the body takes place. In essence, a scientific concept of the biofield of living beings has been proposed. The author talks about the manifestations of mitogenetic radiation in experiments with the killing of shrimp, when sensitive photographic paper was illuminated as a result of radiation generated by dying shrimp when they were scalded with boiling water. Gurvich's assumption was confirmed by the work of Dr. Barr (Yale University, USA). He designed a device that made it possible to record weak electrical voltages near a living object. After such experimental confirmation of the presence of a certain energy field, Dr. Barr put forward a hypothesis according to which this field is like a matrix, the initial drawing that forms the structure of the body.

“The molecules and cells of the human body,” he writes, “are constantly rearranged, destroyed and replenished with fresh material coming from food. But thanks to field control, new molecules and cells reproduce according to the same patterns as old ones... When we meet a friend whom we have not seen for six months, not a single molecule remains on his face that was there at the time you saw his last time. However, thanks to field control, new molecules are arranged in old, familiar patterns, and we recognize his face.".

The electromagnetic nature of the subtle bodies of living beings was proved by the Soviet scientist Presman. He refutes the materialistic point of view of a living organism as a system of biological matter. Based on the results of his numerous experiments, Presman demonstrated the influence of weak (including natural) electromagnetic fields on biological objects. The effect of exposure to electromagnetic fields was determined not by their intensity (strength), but by other factors, among which are the modulation mode and the direction of the induction vector. The author puts forward a hypothesis about the fundamental role of the electromagnetic field as a carrier of information in living nature. At the same time, the biological effects of field exposure depend not so much on the magnitude of their energy as on the information richness of the influence.

In the mid-1970s, Soviet scientists Inyushin and Adamenko reported certain phantom effects observed in damaged plant leaves when photographing them using the Kirlian method. The gas discharge imaging method itself in high-frequency high-voltage electric fields(Kirlian method), has been known for quite a long time (since the 50s of the twentieth century), but by coincidence it did not attract much attention from scientific researchers. However, from that moment on, things began to develop differently. Scientists who received amazing photographs in which the cut leaves of plants looked whole, suggested the existence of an energy structure of biological objects invisible to the eye, according to which the latter build their form. It was called biofield or bioplasma.

A heated debate has erupted around the question of what the images that appear after removing part of a plant leaf actually are. Only in 1979, a group of Indian researchers led by Choudhary provided not only convincing results, but also a detailed diagram of the generator, with the help of which phantoms of remote parts of the leaf were identified. And although there is still no unity on this issue among scientists involved in kirlionography, researchers Garyaev and Yunin have achieved great success in substantiating the nature of this phenomenon. In the article “Fact or Phantom?” They say that by improving the installation for obtaining photographic images using the gas-discharge imaging method, they have achieved stable production of various phantom effects, which can be recognized as an electrical or field plan for completing a part of a sheet into a whole. To prove their statement, the authors cite experiments in which they obtained phantom effects without using the gas-discharge visualization method using special highly sensitive photographic plates for nuclear research. The work states that the only sources of phantoms can be chromosomal DNA emissions in the remaining undamaged part of the leaf. The same mechanism of holographic associative memory, according to the authors, explains phantom pain after amputation of human limbs, as well as the preservation of memory in people in cases where part of the brain is destroyed due to injury or surgery. An attempt is made to explain the mechanism for recording and reading holograms - codes from the chromosomes of the body. Attention is drawn to the “memory” effect of water.

Garyaev, developing Gurvich’s ideas, in his work “Revising the Model genetic code" proves that protein synthesis is the result of genetic coding at the wave level. Genetic memory is interpreted by Garyaev and Leonova as soliton-holographic. It is argued that chromosomes emit light and sound, that genes are split into substance and field. Using photon correlation spectroscopy in 1985, the authors managed to detect unusual anomalously long-decaying sound vibrations DNA. It was found that DNA has the ability to synthesize “a continuous, complex melody with repeated musical phrases.” The genome of higher organisms is considered by the authors as a soliton bioholographic computer that forms the spatiotemporal structure of biosystems according to the wave image - the predecessor. Thus, the genome works not only at the material level, but also at the wave (subtle material) level. Attention is drawn to the unity of the fractal structure of DNA and human speech. Based on this connection, it becomes possible to influence DNA through special generators that convert speech algorithms into soliton modulated fields.

Another Soviet scientist Gennady Pavlovich Krokhalev used an unusual approach in his research. In his work “On the influence of psychic energy on material phenomena,” he proves the reality of psychic energy as the energy of human consciousness, draws attention to psychotronics as a field of knowledge that studies the manifestations of the energies of human mental acts. The article describes experiments in photographing visual hallucinations, confirming their objective nature. From 1974 to 1996, Krokhalev photographed visual hallucinations in 290 mental patients (mainly in patients with alcoholic psychosis), in 117 of them the author was able to photograph visual hallucinations, which amounts to 40.3% repeatability of experiments. The author claims that he has experimentally established that during visual hallucinations there is a reverse transmission of visual information from the center of the visual analyzer to the periphery with electromagnetic radiation from the retina into the space of visual images in the form of planar or volumetric (holographic) images. The area of ​​auditory hallucinations was also tested, which were recorded using a special technique on the magnetic tape of a conventional tape recorder. Krokhalev recorded auditory hallucinations in 30 mental patients. Of these, in 6 patients weak “voices” were heard on magnetic tape in the place where the auditory hallucinations were recorded. The author claims that he has experimentally established that during auditory hallucinations there is a reverse transmission of auditory information from the center of the auditory analyzer to the periphery with sound emission from the organ of Corti.

Similar work was carried out by Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Anatoly Serobabin. He was engaged in photographing people's thoughts as a holographic image projected from the eyes of psychics. In 1996, the scientist submitted an application for the discovery “On the experimental detection of physical fields caused by concentration of thought.”

But the greatest success in the field of recording the energetic impact of thought was achieved by Robert Jahn, head of the laboratory for the study anomalous phenomena Princeton University (USA). He conducted a large number of experiments on the influence of operators on random number generators that controlled the movement of a mechanical robot. It was experimentally proven that under the influence of operators, the movement of the robot from random became more ordered and went in one of certain directions.

In Russia, similar experiments are carried out under the leadership of Yuri Popov, a professor at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute. The center of student initiatives designed its own sensitive device that records mental influence. At the same time, according to Popov, to influence the device it is not necessary to be in close proximity to it. It is enough just to mentally imagine it.

Finally, an American doctor from Massachusetts, Mr. McDougall, conducted a large number of experiments weighing dying people on scales with a sensitivity of plus or minus 3 grams. His research became widely known precisely because of these experiments. The readings of the McDougall scales were recorded automatically. Scientists have discovered that against the background of a gradual decrease in the weight of the dying person (about 20 grams per hour), at the very moment of death there is a rapid, spasmodic weight loss of 15-30 grams (that is, approximately one ten-thousandth of the total body weight). Sometimes the weight loss even reached 70 grams!

McDougall's experiments were repeated on mice by Russian researcher Mstislav Romanovich Miroshnikov, doctor technical sciences. In his experiments, the mouse was placed on the pan of an analytical balance in a sealed glass vessel. The animal was dying of suffocation, and at this time the scales recorded an abrupt weight loss of approximately one thousandth of its initial weight. In addition, it was discovered that immediately after this, the weight of the corpse begins to increase and approximately 1.5-2 hours after the moment of death it reaches its original value, and soon even exceeds the original body weight by one ten-thousandth of it. However, the experiments of McDougall and Miroshnikov in themselves do not yet prove the existence of a “soul”. We can talk about the fact that at the moment of death, a powerful energy process occurs in the body of the dying person, affecting changes in body weight.

The third direction will be the proof of the continued existence of consciousness after the death of the physical body. Here foreign scientists occupy leading positions. Let's name just a few names: Moody, Kubler-Ross, Sabom, Stevenson, Paricha, Benerjee, Korotkov, Osis, Ivanova and others.

In our country, the phenomenon that will be discussed is called “near-death experience.” Abroad it is known as the NDE phenomenon. This is an abbreviation English words"Near Death Experience", which literally means "experience on the border of death." The phenomena of near-death experience include the memories of people who experienced clinical death and experienced unusual experiences and visions, as well as visions of the dying.

Very interesting and extremely important in terms of worldview research was carried out by the American psychologist Dr. Raymond Moody, who studied and compared the testimonies of people who experienced what Moody calls a “near-death experience,” although the whole logic of Moody’s work allows, it seems, to talk about this experience as a post-mortem experience. Thanks to the development of resuscitation technology, Moody was able to collect statistically very representative material, the processing of which led him to amazing results. It turned out that, “Despite the wide variety of circumstances associated with a close encounter with death, as well as the types of people who experienced it, there is no doubt that there are striking similarities between the accounts of the events themselves at this moment”.

“I think we have reached something of a transitional era,” notes Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, MD, in the foreword to Moody’s book After Life. We must have the courage to open new doors and not exclude the possibility that modern scientific methods no longer correspond to new directions of research. I think this book will open such new doors for people with open minds and give them the confidence and courage to develop new problems. They will see that this publication by Dr. Moody is completely reliable, since it was written by a sincere and honest researcher. The findings are supported by my own research and the research of other reputable scientists, researchers and clergy who have the courage to study this new field in the hope of helping those who want to know and not just believe.”.

It was interesting further development events. US Doctor of Psychology Kenneth Ring equipped an entire expedition to clinics in the state of Connecticut. The results of thirteen months of research showed that the phenomenon exists and is not associated with any pathology. Neither intoxication, nor dreams, nor hallucinations have anything to do with it.

After analyzing 102 cases of clinical death, Dr. Ring stated:

60% of patients experience an indescribable feeling of peace;

37% – hovered above their own body;

26% – remember various panoramic visions;

23% - entered a tunnel, sluice, bag, well or cellar;

16% – still admire the enchanting light;

8% claim to have met deceased relatives.

The indications are always the same, whether patients are from the USA, European countries or even from Burundi. At the same time, both believers and atheists experienced similar experiences.

On the other side of the United States, a young cardiologist, Dr. Michael Sabom, a rational and pedantic man, read Moody's theses, burst out with caustic ridicule and, in order to leave no stone unturned, conducted a systematic survey of emergency room personnel in Florida. When the results of his research completely coincided with the data of Moody and Ring, Sabom decided to devote his life to studying this phenomenon. He even developed a ten-step model of clinical death, which now bears his name. This is how it arose International Association to study the phenomenon of NDE, which today has branches in many countries around the world.

Dr. Karlis Osis's book Deathbed Visions by Doctors and Nurses describes so-called "deathbed visions" made by doctors and nurses. 1004 verified cases of visions are analyzed and classified according to the characteristic features of the experiences of dying people. The author concludes that the totality of these experiences cannot be fully explained by the effects of medical procedures or illness. It is noted that in 80% of cases dying people see the ghosts of deceased people, and in 75% of cases the latter call the dying person with them to the next world.

A large number of scientific data proving the continued existence of consciousness after death refers to the phenomenon of reincarnation.

American Dr. Ian Stevenson, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, has conducted a large amount of research in the field of studying multiple births or reincarnations. His examples are taken from both Eastern and Western countries. He cites more than 2000 cases proving that the phenomenon of reincarnation is very widespread in the world. Specialists from the Bangalore Institute of Mental Health and Neuropathology conducted, in particular, a study of 250 cases of reincarnation registered since 1975. For more than 10 years, Dr. Satwant Pasricha visited many villages and interviewed at least 20 eyewitnesses in each such case. As a result, the researchers came to the following conclusions: as a rule, the “transformation effect” is observed in children aged three to seven years. Over the years they completely forget about it. “Rebirth” into another person is usually caused by a random remark from one of the relatives. Studies have shown that in 82% of cases, children clearly remembered their name in a “past birth” and details of their “past” life. It is also noteworthy that in half of the cases in their “previous lives” people died a violent death. Their average age was 34 years. “Rebirth” occurred on average after a year and a half. In 26% of cases, children experienced an inexplicable fear of things that were directly or indirectly related to the cause of their death in “previous existences.” As a rule, a person's gender does not change in the next birth. In 80% of cases, persons related by the “reincarnation effect” were not relatives, which excludes a genetic connection.

An original method for solving the problem was applied by Konstantin Georgievich Korotkov, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (St. Petersburg). He is a proponent of using methods modern science to solve the most fundamental problems of existence. In his works, Korotkov talks about the need to create a new scientific paradigm. The researcher describes experiments using the Kirlian effect to study the dynamics of changes in the nature of the luminosity of the fingertips of people who have died different ways. The author especially points out the reproducibility of the experimental results using the proposed method. It is noted that for all the deceased there is a general decline in the glow from the beginning of the experiment to the end, however, the nature of the gas-discharge curves turned out to depend on the causes of death of people.

The fourth direction of scientific research confirming the existence of the Subtle World and the continuation of the life of consciousness after so-called death can be considered proof of the possibility of separating consciousness from the physical body. As far as we know, scientific research in this direction is carried out mainly by foreign scientists: Crookall, Fox, Tart, Osis, Carrington, Grof and others.

Next, we will talk about the study of a phenomenon called “out-of-body experience” (OBE), or, as it is also called, out-of-body experience, astral exit, astral projection, bilocation (simultaneous viewing of two different places). Out-of-body experience can be defined as observing a phenomenon from a point that does not coincide with our physical body. At the same time, it is often felt that consciousness has moved from the physical body to some other body, called variously: the astral body, the etheric body, a double or a double.

Back in 1919, French researcher Charles Lancelin carried out experiments using hypnosis. Lancelin found subjects who were able to leave their body and appear to an observer in another room. Often the phantoms of these people made themselves felt by touching, tapping, and also causing various images on photographic plates and touching sulfide screens, as a result of which they began to glow. However, until the research conducted by Celia Green and Robert Crookall in the early 1960s, Lansle's report continued to be the only report on the study of out-of-body experiences in laboratory conditions.

Celia Green, an English researcher of this phenomenon, founded the Institute of Psychical Research in Oxford in 1961, where regular experiments began on a strictly scientific basis. Another Englishman, Robert Crookall, devoted his entire life to collecting and analyzing WTO cases. Since the 60s of our century, he managed to collect more than 1000 episodes around the world, which he described in his works.

The extensive material collected by Green and Krukal convinced other researchers that a documented study of out-of-body experiences conducted under controlled laboratory conditions was a compelling proposition.

A pioneer in this area was Dr Charles Tart. In 1965, as a teacher Medical College University of Virginia, Tart began a series of amazing experiments involving Mr. X. This Mr. X was a certain Robert Monroe - an American businessman, a man with the ability to spontaneously isolate the subtle body, the author of the book “Travel Out of the Body,” published in 1971, in which he outlined his analysis of the OBE. He later founded the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences in Virginia. In 1982, the Monroe Institute, together with Medical center The University of Kansas was invited to present three reports on out-of-body experience at a meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, which should be considered the beginning of scientific recognition of the phenomenon.

Tart equipped his first subject in such a way that during sleep (the subject left his body in a dream) it was possible to monitor fluctuations in brain biocurrents, eye movements, blood pressure and electrical resistance of the skin. He would then place a card with a random five-digit number on the shelf above his bed. The card was placed so that only an observer located near the ceiling could see it. The subject could not stand up and look at the shelf without disturbing the operation of the electroencephalograph. However, the technique used by Tart during the experiments turned out to be a difficult problem, since even if his subjects correctly guessed 1000 control digits, this still did not prove that they “left the body” to do this. According to some parapsychologists, such results could be obtained through extrasensory perception (for example, through clairvoyance or telepathy). A natural question then arises: how can one distinguish an out-of-body experience from clairvoyance?

Research more convincing in its unambiguousness than Tart's experiments was conducted by the Foundation for Psychical Research in Durham (North Carolina, USA). The studies were methodologically similar to Tart's experiments, but were somewhat more complicated. In addition to observing physiological changes and the location of the target material in another room, the researchers set out to determine whether any person, animal, or mechanical device could detect the presence of a “second body” in the vicinity of the target. The most significant results were obtained when using the subject's favorite kitten as a detector. The kitten was placed in an open container about a meter deep located in the target room, the bottom of which was marked with numbered squares. During the control experiment - without the out-of-body experience - the kitten was very active, meowing often, crossing a large number of squares and trying to get out of the container. However, during the subject's "out-of-body" visits to the target room, the kitten behaved surprisingly calmly. This effect was repeated over four experiments. Another experiment, in which a snake was used as a detector, also yielded amazing results. The snake, which had been lying completely calmly during the control period, during the first test of an out-of-body visit began to throw itself at the glass wall, as if trying to hit an invisible enemy.

In a report on research into the phenomenon of out-of-body experiences at the American Society for Psychical Research, Dr. Karlis Osis, director of research, wrote:

“For the past two years, the research department has been entirely occupied with studying the question: does the human personality continue to exist after death, physical death? We followed our central hypothesis - the human essence is an “exomatic system”, capable of acting independently and outside of its physical body. This “exomatic” side of a person is able to leave his body at the moment of death and continue to exist. Can a person, we ask, really leave his body temporarily or permanently (at the moment of death)?

After a detailed review of the experimental work being carried out, Dr. Osis concluded the following:

“Research into out-of-body experiences has proven difficult, mainly because the phenomenon in its entirety is rarely produced at will. Our results obtained so far are consistent with our hypothesis. After using the research opportunities described above, we can truly hope to obtain evidence for exomatic existence human personality» .

In addition to such purely physical experiments, a number of statistical studies have been carried out with the goal of establishing features common to the numerous scattered testimonies of individuals who have experienced out-of-body experiences.

Finally, the fifth direction of scientific research work will be the proof of the existence in the Subtle World of other creatures capable of influencing the physical world, people and animals. Boccone, Jurgenson, Raudiv, Vinokurov, Isakov, Kartashkin, Bacci, Fomenko, Pritzker and others devoted their time to this work.

It is no secret to anyone that the great interest that spiritualists have always shown in all kinds of contacts with the afterlife. Over time, this idle interest resulted in purposeful attempts by enthusiastic researchers to find objective approaches to the Subtle World using available hardware.

The greatest success in this field was achieved by the Latvian psychologist Dr. Konstantin Raudiv, who lived in Sweden. With its help, electronic engineers designed and assembled a special device - a goniometer, designed exclusively for recording “otherworldly” sounds. By 1968, the scientist managed to collect more than 70,000 sound artifacts on his films! Dr. Raudive's research gained wide publicity thanks to his book “How to Hear the Inaudible,” published in England and the United States under the title “Breakthrough.” After this, the phenomenon began to be called “the voices of Raudive.”

The efforts of scientists have always been aimed at obtaining objective evidence of the existence of fine-material structures. Such arguments are the only ones recognized as having the right to participate in scientific discussion. With the beginning of the development of photography, science for the first time in its long history had the opportunity to capture touches of the Subtle World. The Italian researcher Luciano Boccone received a large amount of photographic materials. At the top of a large secluded hill, Boccone set up a laboratory, equipping it with various recording equipment - photometers, thermometers, magnetometers, alpha, beta and gamma radiation recorders, photo and movie cameras. There were also living “indicators” – dogs. The principle of the research was defined extremely simply: anomalous and unexplained deviations in the readings of any device indicate the presence of invisible creatures. There was a lot of such evidence. Over three years of work, Boccone collected a huge amount of material. Moreover, the impression was created that the further the mysterious phenomena went, the more they rushed toward Boccone, almost “pushing each other with their elbows.” They were recorded with instruments, captured on film, and seen with the naked eye. Their properties were gradually revealed. What struck the researchers, so to speak, was the certain meaningfulness of their behavior. All these clouds, condensations of unknown fields, luminous balls in the visible, and more often invisible - infrared and ultraviolet - part of the spectrum seemed to demonstrate their capabilities to people - they rushed or floated over them, changed the speed and direction of flight, transformed into different shapes. Gradually Boccone came to the conclusion that he was dealing with ethereal life forms. And he gave them a name - kraters. Here is how he himself writes about these objects:

“These ethereal life forms,” Boccone wrote, “these objects are living beings, and the phenomena associated with them do not belong to our three-dimensional reality typical of the frequency band of our visible spectrum. These are manifestations of a life alien to us. These are, undoubtedly, living beings - light and dark, dense and transparent, plasmatic forms, energy transformations, melting clouds and fogs, invisible amorphous masses that have nothing to do with our physical reality.".

The materials obtained by Boccone are not the only ones of their kind. Interesting photographs were obtained by Okhatrin’s group, Pritzker and other researchers.

Another group of facts testifying to the work of invisible creatures can easily include the phenomena of poltergeists. Researchers from various laboratories and scientific institutes around the world have been studying the poltergeist problem for many years. The fact that, as a rule, these are people of various specialties is understandable: no one can say with accuracy what category of phenomena this phenomenon can be attributed to. The professional and regional dispersion of researchers seems to replicate the variety of forms in which the phenomenon manifests itself, and its ability to appear at the most unexpected point. For a poltergeist, there are no distances, no urban or rural areas... It’s funny that representatives of each of the sciences, invited to study poltergeists, always find a complete explanation for it, each within the framework of their own branch of knowledge. Where does the science of studying any phenomenon begin? From attempts to systematize it. But on what basis could poltergeists be systematized? Although it is difficult, but within some limits, this is obviously still possible, and Soviet researchers are trying to do it. According to the calculations of researcher Vinokurov, most of the events associated with poltergeists occur in the evening hours, and among the days of the week - on Saturdays and Sundays (1.5-4 times more often than on other days). Moreover, the more intense the flash, the faster the attenuation follows. Another pattern is that the objects of poltergeist influence are often dielectrics - furniture, clothing, fabrics. Metal products are the object of its influence much less often. It is also possible to systematize events by the way they are grouped. Researcher of the phenomenon Fomenko notes that quite often, one after another, a refrigerator, a bed, a sideboard are overturned or overturned, i.e. heavy objects. The series also includes rocking and breaking chandeliers, and unscrewing the legs of couches and receivers.

In general, there is no shortage of versions and explanations of poltergeists. As for the multiplicity of hypotheses, one can see in this the persistence of thought, the desire to find a solution to the problem in one way or another. Perseverance is worthy of respect in itself. If it were necessary to isolate the essence of the proposed hypotheses, I would say that it consists in an attempt to reconcile the phenomenon with the familiar realities of the world in which we live, to make it fit, if not into physical laws, then at least into the logic of our world...

The head of the section for the study of anomalous phenomena (Gorky) Ermilov says:

“...The study of the phenomenon forced us to accept the existence of certain subtle structures. These are structures that have the property of intelligence and can react by obeying certain commands. Some psychics say that they see such structures and describe them. According to their descriptions, they look in a variety of ways: in cases associated with poltergeists, anthropomorphic forms are mentioned, in particular. This may also be related to the perception of ghosts of human figures that often accompany the phenomenon... Sometimes these can be forms that resemble animals, but in no way reproduce any of those known to us; rather, it is a certain combination that sometimes resembles scary characters from fairy tales or myths".

We told you only about some of the works of scientists proving the existence of the invisible Subtle World. To sum up our review, I would like to quote the words of the great French thinker Montaigne: “Gentlemen, I only made a bouquet of picked flowers and didn’t add anything of my own except the thread that ties them together.”.

“Tear the thread into pieces if you wish; – we add, – as for the bouquet of facts, it cannot be destroyed, it can only be ignored.”.

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To paraphrase a famous expression from a wonderful Soviet film, we can say with confidence: “Is there life after death, is there life after death - this is unknown to science.” The essence of all scientific research in this area can so far be reduced only to the statement that there is no actual evidence of the presence or absence of posthumous existence. But this does not mean at all that such studies have not been carried out, are not being carried out, and that they are not planned.

Scientific point of view

From the point of view of fundamental science, life after death is not considered as a subject of research, since the very possibility of the existence of the soul as an immortal immaterial entity and its presence in some metaphysical dimension goes beyond scientific knowledge. However, many scientists have made the subject of study those testimonies of people that can be interpreted as evidence of being in this spiritual world. Typically, such experiences accompany a state of clinical death, when a person’s life hangs by a thread, and his soul, according to a certain opinion, temporarily leaves the body and only after some kind of spiritual contact returns. Academic science interprets all the signs of this “vision of the other world” for very practical reasons: disruption of the vestibular apparatus, ischemia (that is, disruption of the blood supply) of the frontal cortex of the brain and hallucinations caused by these circumstances.

At the same time, a number of scientists who are less skeptical about evidence of special spiritual experiences during clinical death have compiled a list of common experiences that characterize these states. First of all, it is noted that it is difficult to describe the general state in which people lived who, according to them, visited the other world. What is common to almost all such cases is the inexpressibility of the experience, since something can only be described based on personal experience similar experiences, which is absent in such a situation. In addition, the ability of a person in such a state to hear everything that happens next to the body, what others say, and even in some situations to see his body and the environment and people from the outside, from the outside, is emphasized. Attention is also drawn to the presence of some background noise, which can, however, be very diverse - from annoying and intrusive to similar to beautiful melodic music. Finally, almost all people who describe such a state talk about a visual image of a tunnel, at the end of which there is bright light, as well as a general state of peace and tranquility.

What else will scientists come up with?

Difficulty considering the possibility itself scientific study the question of whether there is life after death lies on the surface - science operates with facts and material evidence, while the other world is initially presented as a spiritual dimension, which, if not completely devoid of physical characteristics, is in no way limited by them. In such a situation, it is not possible to establish whether there is life after death either with the help of any sensors or with the help of recording devices. The only option is to study precisely those cases when people are declared to have contact with the other world, and some scientists will interpret the data already obtained during the study of these episodes in favor of proving the existence of a posthumous reality, while others will look for new logical explanations from the point of view of dry facts .

A clear example of this dual perception is provided by research led by British scientist Sam Parnia from Southampton. Parnia over a period of time studied more than sixty patients who experienced a state of clinical death and remained in a coma for a long time. Only seven of them were able to remember any of their own sensations, and only four spoke of clear pictures in their minds. In 2008, Parnia published these data, emphasizing that this may indicate the independent functioning of consciousness without the help of the physical body, because in people who were in a coma, the devices did not record the brain activity that should have been in the case of hallucinations. However, skeptics were not satisfied with such conclusions, and a long-term, more three years, a study of nearly thirty English and American hospitals. On the ceilings of intensive care and postoperative wards, certain pictures were placed that were supposed to be remembered by those people who, in a state of clinical death, could separate their soul from their body and still retain consciousness. But at the end of the experiment, out of more than one and a half thousand people who were in clinical death in these wards, no one remembered any pictures upon returning to life. Skeptics immediately stated that this is proof that there are no separations of the soul from the body, and the visual images seen are nothing more than hallucinations.

Alexander Babitsky

If we try to find out what death is, we will come to the conclusion that there are many definitions of this phenomenon. Science also does not provide a clear and understandable definition. Let's try to consult the explanatory dictionary of S.I. Ozhegov and N.Yu. Shvedova. Here's what they write:

» DEATH. Termination of the body's vital functions.

Clinical death(a short period after the cessation of breathing and cardiac activity, during which tissue viability still remains).

Biological death(irreversible cessation of biological processes in the cells and tissues of the body).”

The definition is understandable, but does not explain much. Moreover, there is no mention of the Soul in it. Let's take a look at V.I.'s explanatory dictionary. Dalia. It says:

“DEATH is the end of earthly life, death, separation of the soul from the body, dying, the state of being obsolete. The death of man, the end of carnal life, resurrection, transition to eternal, to spiritual life.”

The definition is not so clear, but it already contains a mention of the Soul. The remark about “eternal and spiritual life” is interesting, but, unfortunately, what it is is completely unclear.

The Oxford Academic Dictionary gives a completely meaningless definition: "Death is the end of life."

The 1986 Encyclopedia Britannica interprets death as "complete cessation of life processes."

Medical guidelines define death as follows: “No signs of life” and “No brain activity confirmed by electroencephalogram.”

The 22nd World Medical Congress in 1968, which specifically studied the problem of death, gave the following definition: “Irreversible loss of whole body functions.”

Another definition is often found, which also does not give a clear idea: “Death is the final cessation of vital functions in an animal or plant.”

Thus, the concept of “death” is still not firmly established even among professional doctors. The criteria for death vary even among doctors themselves.

Let's look at the three main definitions of "death".

Definition No. 1.
“Death” is the absence of clinically detectable signs of life.

By this definition, a person whose heart has stopped, breathing has stopped, blood pressure has dropped to a level that can no longer be determined by instruments, pupils have dilated, body temperature begins to drop, etc. can be considered dead.

This clinical definition death for many centuries and was used by doctors. Most people were declared dead based on these criteria.

Often, in order to determine whether a person died or not, a mirror was held to his lips. If it fogged up, then this indicated that the person was still breathing. But lack of breathing is not death. Drowned people who were pulled out of the water were sometimes able to be revived.

Sometimes the doctor would make a small cut in the skin to see if blood would flow. However, this was also not a very reliable method. After cardiac arrest and cessation of blood circulation, it was also possible to save people’s lives.

That's why this definition more suitable for the concept of clinical death. And as you know, clinical death is not the end of existence.

People who experienced life outside the body were also considered dead according to this definition. However modern methods resuscitation allowed their lives to be restored and they were able to talk about their experiences.

Definition #2
“Death” is the absence of brain activity.

Modern technical advances have made it possible to create sensitive equipment that makes it possible to record biological processes hidden from direct observation. One such device is an electroencephalograph. This is a device that amplifies and records even the weakest electrical signals from the brain.

With the advent of this device, at first glance, it became possible to draw a conclusion about death based on the absence electrical activity brain At the moment of death, a clearly visible flat area (plateau) appears on the electroencephalograph screen. However, such a plateau was also obtained in people who were subsequently resuscitated. Scientists have also found that drugs are depressants. nervous system and their increased levels in the body also lead to a plateau. The same plateau appears when the temperature of the human body decreases.

Therefore, this method of establishing death is also not perfect.

Definition #3
“Death” is the irreversible loss of vital functions.

This definition suggests that a structural change in tissue has already begun. Resuscitation is possible only if irreversible destruction of body tissues has not yet occurred. Once the tissues begin to disintegrate, no resuscitation is possible. Some experts propose an even stricter definition, according to which no one can be declared dead, regardless of whether there are clinical signs of life or not, if resuscitation has followed. In other words, “death” is a state when it is no longer possible to bring a person back to life.

However, we are talking not only about the moment of transition, but also about the very existence of the amazing phenomenon of life after life, when some part of a person leaves his body and can observe this body and everything around him from the outside. It becomes clear that conscious life can continue regardless of the vital activity of the physical body.

The body, as we know, consists of cells and tissues, and when a person dies, different cells and tissues are destroyed at different times. Brain cells die first. Cells of some other tissues, more primitive ones, can live and even reproduce for some time. For example, it is well known that when a person has already died, his hair and nails continue to grow for several days. From the point of view of science, it is generally impossible to talk about the simultaneous death of the entire human body.

Is it possible to somehow establish the moment when the Soul and life completely left the body? It is unlikely that anyone can do this. Even medicine currently does not have absolutely accurate criteria for determining the moment of death. Or maybe there is no death itself? It’s probably not for nothing that the word “transition” has appeared in the vocabulary of doctors studying issues of death. Death is usually understood as the end of human life. Now it is known that after the death of the body, the Personality of a person continues to live. Therefore, we can talk about the death of the physical body and the transition of the Soul to a new state of Being. It follows from this that there is some mechanism by which the Soul can leave the body. Sometimes this mechanism starts even before actual death. At the same time, people may experience unusual sensations, for example, seeing their entire past life in a few seconds. Some people, on the eve of their death, actually have a presentiment of it, and sometimes even feel how and when it will happen.

Also, at present it is impossible to accurately determine from what point a return to life is impossible. This moment depends not only on the person himself, his qualities, physical condition, but also on many other factors. Just a few decades ago, most people could not be brought back to life. The rapid development of resuscitation technology will make it possible to bring back to life many of those whom doctors were unable to save yesterday.

It is imperative to make the definition of death as specific as possible. After all, the correct declaration of death is very important when transplanting organs from a deceased person to a living person. Such operations are extremely expensive, but very popular all over the world. However, there are many different moral and legal nuances here.

Doctors who perform resuscitation and doctors who accept an organ from a deceased person for transplantation have a colossal responsibility. Resuscitation doctors are obliged to fully use all opportunities to bring a person back to life. This is their moral and professional duty.

But on the other hand, the heart, kidney or liver must be removed from the donor's body quickly enough, immediately after the donor's death, while the organ is still alive and able to function. Accordingly, the medical team performing organ removal should be nearby. Based on this situation, a certain procedure has developed. When a person is admitted to intensive care with little chance of returning to life, resuscitators immediately report this case to their colleagues who are involved in organ transplantation. A special team of doctors immediately goes to the resuscitation site to await the results of resuscitation. In the event of the death of a donor, after its official confirmation, this team immediately removes the necessary organ from the body of the deceased.

However, only in theory everything looks smooth. The same practice shows that sometimes doctors, in pursuit of material rewards or do not fulfill their moral duty, or carry it out carelessly and, thus, deprive a person of the right to continue life. It seems to us that until science recognizes the existence of the subtle world, it will not be able to give a more precise definition of the concept of “death.” How close scientists are to such recognition - only time will tell...

§ 2. Resuscitation technique

Popular, scientific and fiction literature has sufficiently described cases in which a person who had already been declared dead sometimes came to life. The most famous cases are the resurrection of the deceased Lazarus by Jesus Christ on the third day after death (Bible, Gospel of John, chapter 11), and, of course, the amazing resurrection of Christ itself.

The belief that resurrection was possible led people to attempt revival. The most ancient attempts were very primitive. Most often, the deceased was flogged with nettles, air was blown into the lungs with bellows, and they were placed on a horse in the hope that the shaking would bring him back to life. Later they began to use it to revive electricity. All this suggests that people subconsciously felt that strong irritation was necessary to resurrect a person.

Obviously, such amateurish actions rarely led to success. Nevertheless, at all times people hoped that one day it would be possible to bring the dead back to life.

Until recently, the vital activity of the entire organism often depended on the performance of one of the organs. If a vital organ stopped working, the person died. For example, cardiac arrest or liver failure resulted in death. However, with the development of medicine, this problem was also solved. Scientists have developed new methods of revival: artificial respiration, blood transfusion, organ transplantation. Artificial organs are being used more and more often: heart, lungs, kidneys, etc.

Attempts at resuscitation were successful, as a rule, only in the first minutes after the extinction of vital functions. If the state of death did not last long and irreversible decay of the body tissues had not yet occurred, then the person received a chance to return to life.

In principle, knowing the mechanisms of human life and especially the functioning of his subtle energy bodies, reviving a person is in principle possible. However, there is one important point here that makes you wonder whether such a revival is necessary. If a person really died and was in this state for some time (an hour, two, a day, two), then after his revival, the result will always be a sick and mentally disabled person, since, first of all, when a biological body dies, the brain dies. And the brain is directly connected with Consciousness and Reason. As soon as the brain ceases to function, Consciousness and Mind become separate and exist, as if separately from the physical body. Therefore, if the biological body comes to life, the result will be an imbecile, acting only in the mode of satisfying biological instincts. This will no longer be a full-fledged person.

In any case, this is a rather controversial topic and can cause a lot of both positive and negative reactions. Is it worth it for a person to interfere with God’s Plan at all? This is what we suggest you think about before expressing your opinion.

Let's go back to real facts and phenomena, or rather to people who have gone through clinical death. Often they later talked about their experiences at the moment of death. They retained the ability to perceive their surroundings. They could, for example, look at their dead body from the outside, see how doctors were trying to bring it back to life, and could hear and understand their conversations. Thus, it turned out that the person brought back to life retained the memory of what happened and could later talk about what he saw and heard. But at that time he was lying on the operating table and showed no signs of life.

This suggests a logical conclusion. The personality or Soul of a person does not die simultaneously with the body, but continues to exist independently. If the deceased can be revived, the Soul returns to the body again. Thus, a person receives the right to continue life.

In more precise terms, a person’s return to life after clinical death is the beginning of his new incarnation on Earth. When dying, the Soul of a person leaves the current body, and after some time receives a new body. We call this reincarnation. In case of clinical death, the Soul only temporarily leaves its body and after some time moves into it again. This is like the second birth of a person, the beginning of his new life on Earth. You can believe it or not, but experience shows that a person who has experienced clinical death very often changes for the better. This is a separate topic for conversation and we will return to it a little later. For those wishing to thoroughly understand this amazing phenomenon, we recommend reading our book “Life is only a moment. Knowledge of the 21st century".

If you want to receive more information on this topic, write to us: ok@site

Death is an old woman with a scythe who sooner or later comes for all living beings. But some people manage to literally return from the other world, having experienced clinical death. At this stage, cardiac activity and the breathing process stop, and all external signs human lives are missing. Interestingly, during clinical death, thousands of people experience certain visions or even out-of-body experiences. How can this be explained with scientific point vision? Let's find out.

The temporo-parietal junction may be responsible for out-of-body experiences

Hundreds of people who have experienced clinical death have had the experience of leaving their bodies.

There are many common elements in the descriptions of people who have experienced clinical death. For example, they usually clearly feel how they leave the body. Patients who returned, as they say, from the other world, subsequently said that they hovered over a lifeless body and saw all the people around them. There have been dozens of cases of people who have had out-of-body experiences accurately describing objects and events that occurred while they were clinically believed to be dead.

Scientific research shows that this may be one of the consequences of damage to the temporoparietal junction of the brain. This area is responsible for collecting data about the surrounding world through the senses. By processing this information, the temporoparietal junction forms a person’s perception of his body. Perhaps, when this part of the brain is damaged, the very “leaving the body” described by eyewitnesses occurs.

This is interesting: Scientists have been able to make people experience out-of-body experiences in laboratory conditions. At the same time, they did not bring the subjects to death, but simply stimulated the temporo-parietal junction with electrical impulses.

Excess carbon dioxide can create a visual image of a tunnel with white light

People who have experienced clinical death often see a ‘white light at the end of the tunnel’

The lion's share of people who have experienced clinical death say that they saw a bright white light and even a tunnel that led them to the afterlife. They note that the blinding white light seems somehow otherworldly, but at the same time it evokes a feeling of absolute calm and tranquility.

In a study of patients who had suffered heart attacks, it was found that between the blood levels carbon dioxide and in the visible image of the white tunnel there is a connection. At least 11 out of 52 people who experienced clinical death reported white light to scientists. It turned out that the blood of these people at the time of clinical death contained much more carbon dioxide than in patients who did not observe such visions.

This led the researchers to conclude that excess carbon dioxide could directly cause the visions described above. How? It's not clear yet.

Hallucinations occur when there is a lack of oxygen in the brain

Hallucinations occur during hypoxia

Often, patients who have experienced clinical death claim that they felt the presence of long-dead friends or relatives who led them from our world to the afterlife. People also note that hundreds of pictures from the past pop up in their heads, and a feeling of complete calm appears in their souls. But scientists were able to explain even this.

When excess carbon dioxide affects a person's vision, the lack of oxygen in their brain can cause quite realistic hallucinations. It is known, for example, that hypoxia (oxygen starvation of the body) not only leads to hallucinations, but even causes a feeling of euphoria, repeatedly mentioned by patients. Despite the limited sample available to the scientists, they were able to observe that people who hallucinated during cardiac arrest had lower levels of oxygen in the brain.

Scientists suggest that it is hypoxia that leads to the appearance of pictures from past life before your eyes, as well as to “moving” a person to a place where he is surrounded by long-dead relatives. At this stage, this version remains a common theory, but it is supported by the fact that clinical death is most often experienced by people who have had a heart attack. With it, the blood simply does not reach their brain, that is, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the brain tissue increases and the oxygen content decreases.

The dying brain releases a huge amount of endorphins into the body

The brain tries to bring the body back to life and releases all the hormones into the body

For quite a long time, scientists believed in the theory that most of the sensations that people feel during clinical death can be explained by the release of endorphins and other hormones into the body. The idea that all near-death effects were caused solely by endorphins was later rejected. However, it did an excellent job of explaining why thousands of people who experience cardiac arrest do not experience any sense of fear or anxiety, despite the knowledge that their life has come to an end.

The release of these hormones, which resemble morphine in their effects on the body, during moments of extreme stress, according to neuropsychologist Daniel Cara, perfectly explains the feeling of peace, as well as the absence of pain or fear at a time when the body is in an emergency state. That’s why at the moment of clinical death people feel so light and even sublime.

Many scientists suggest that the brain's release of endorphins is a natural process designed to facilitate the process of dying. Other researchers note that at the time of death in a huge number Not only endorphins are released, but also many other hormones. In their opinion, in this way the brain is desperately trying to bring the dying body back to life.

This is interesting: It is known that at the moment of orgasm, endorphins are released into the body in small quantities, and it is they that make people experience very pleasant sensations. Now imagine the feeling when the entire “reserve” of these hormones in the body enters the bloodstream in an instant. Therefore, there is an opinion that at the moment of death people experience the same sensations as during orgasm, only ten times stronger.

Flashes of brain activity at the time of clinical death

Hyperconsciousness - a state experienced during clinical death

Enhancing sensory perception is one of the characteristic features clinical death. A 2012 study suggests that sensations may be triggered by a powerful burst of brain activity before death. True, the experiments were carried out on rats and a relatively small sample was used. This gave some scientists reasons to reject their results. Researcher Jimo Boerzhijin, on the contrary, believes that they perfectly explain clinical death from a biological point of view.

During the study, electrodes were inserted into the brains of rats. And in such a way that scientists can monitor the levels of brain activity at the moment of death of rodents. It turned out that the rats experienced what scientists called "hyperconsciousness." This is a condition characterized by a powerful intensification of feelings that many people associate with clinical death. According to Zimo, the researchers recorded “continued and multiply enhanced brain activity.”

This is interesting: It turns out that the overactive conscious activity of the main organ continues for the first 30 seconds after the moment of clinical death, after which it quickly fades.

Astral projection is awareness during anesthesia?

Sometimes even under anesthesia people experience awareness

Astral projection (in other words, out-of-body experiences) can easily be explained by more than just the temporo-temporal junction lesions mentioned above. Most astral projections can be signs of awareness during anesthesia.

During anesthesia, only 1 in 1,000 people experience an out-of-body experience. Despite this, there is reason to believe that people who have experienced clinical death subsequently only build false memories based on what they saw and heard while they were under the influence of anesthesia.

This may be the main reason why Pamela Reynolds, whose clinical death is often cited as an example, was able to remember many details of the operation. For example, this woman accurately described the shape of the saw used to open her skull, and even said that the song “Hotel California” was played in the emergency room during the operation.

Pamela's clinical death is often considered important evidence of an out-of-body experience. But with your permission, we dare to add a fly in the ointment. In fact, everything Reynolds remembered happened after her heart had already started. That is, she was alive then, but was under the influence of anesthesia. The patient later believed that she saw and heard everything while in a state of clinical death. Skeptics suggest that this was simply a rare case of a person experiencing awareness while under anesthesia.

The perception of time is greatly distorted

At critical moments, the perception of time is distorted

Neurosurgeon Eben Alexander published a book in which he described his own experience of clinical death and the visions and sensations that accompanied it. Note that Eben's heart stopped while he was in a coma due to inflammation of the brain. Alexander claims that, in fact, his clinical death lasted several days. It began, in his opinion, at the moment when the cerebral cortex was blocked due to a progressive coma. His experience is paradoxical, because all the sensory sensations that he experienced are always recorded precisely by the cerebral cortex.

The publication of Eben Alexander's book attracted increased attention journalists and generated dozens of sensational headlines in the media mass media. But within weeks, neurologist Oliver Sacks offered a fairly simple explanation for Dr. Alexander's experience.

He believes that any hallucination Eben saw (for example, a journey to the white light) could actually last no more than 20-30 seconds, but he himself perceived it as much longer. According to Sachs, during a crisis as profound as a coma, the very perception of time changes. He suggests that Alexander's visions were born in his head when the body was emerging from a state of coma, and the cerebral cortex was slowly becoming more active. Oliver Sacks is surprised that Eben Alexander himself does not offer such an obvious explanation, but stubbornly insists on the supernatural.

Hallucinations and real perceptions use the same areas of the brain

Hallucinations are difficult to distinguish from real perceptions

People who have experienced clinical death often recall that during it all their sensations seemed very realistic, and sometimes even more real than anything they experienced during life. Millions of people believe that these are not just hallucinations. But scientists have a different point of view. There is at least one good reason why it is very difficult to distinguish reality from hallucinations.

Neurologist Oliver Sacks, mentioned in the previous section, says that people who have experienced clinical death are not inventing anything: everything they dreamed could indeed seem completely real. In his opinion, the main reason that hallucinations are so realistic is that they activate the same brain systems as during actual perception.

This is interesting: When a person hears someone’s voice, the area responsible for hearing is activated. At the same time, during auditory hallucinations, the same part of the brain is also activated. Therefore, sounds born in a person’s imagination are perceived by him as real.

Elevated sensations at the moment of clinical death are caused by epileptic activity of the temporal lobes

Epileptic activity in the temporal lobe makes people feel blissful

So-called spasms of ecstasy are quite rare in people suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy. However, a burst of epileptic activity in this area of ​​the brain can cause visions of God or heaven, as well as feelings of absolute happiness, which are reported by hundreds of people who have experienced clinical death. In a study designed and conducted by Orrin Devinsky's team, scientists were able to monitor the brain activity of patients experiencing ecstatic spasms. Surprisingly, the number of divine visions in patients exactly coincided with the number of bursts of activity in the temporal lobe of the brain (in most cases, the right half).

Experts suggest that some historical figures, including Dostoevsky and Joan of Arc, suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy. During bursts of epileptic activity, they experienced a feeling of ecstasy and a sense of the presence of something otherworldly. It is likely that people who described divine visions also experienced epileptic activity in the temporal lobe at the time of clinical death.

Describing his convulsions of ecstasy, Dostoevsky once stated: “I felt absolute harmony in myself and in the whole world, and this feeling was so strong and sweet that for just a few seconds of such happiness I would without a second thought give ten years of my life, or maybe even a whole life." In these words one can find much in common with the stories of people who felt unearthly bliss during clinical death.

Neuralgia and religion do not necessarily contradict each other

Science and religion may be closer than they seem

Despite in-depth research into the phenomenon of clinical death, scientists are in no hurry to refute all experiences people have experienced, referring only to impaired neurological functions. Thus, even if they wanted to, they could not explain one famous case in which a patient experienced an out-of-body experience after cardiac arrest.

This is interesting: When the woman was resuscitated, she reported that at the moment of clinical death she left her body and found herself outside the hospital. In particular, the patient said that she saw a tennis shoe lying on the windowsill in one of the rooms on the third floor. The surprised doctor decided to check her words and actually found the shoe in the indicated place. Shocked doctors were forced to admit that the patient had no way of knowing about this and many other details that she described.

Dr. Tony Sicoria, struck by lightning in 1994, also experienced clinical death. Soon an authoritative scientist who had high level in neurobiology, I unexpectedly felt an irresistible desire to learn how to play and compose musical works. It is unknown what he saw at the moment of clinical death, but, according to him, this experience made him a completely different person. Tony Sikoria does not see any contradictions between religion and neuralgia, believing that if God existed in every person, then he would “work” through the nervous system. More precisely, through those areas of the brain that give us the opportunity to feel faith and spirituality.

Other mysteries are inextricably linked with the phenomenon of clinical death. For example, why do many people really change dramatically after it? For example, a kind and cheerful American boy, Harry, after clinical death, became very aggressive and could not even get along with his parents. A three-year-old Australian girl, having returned from the other world, literally demanded alcohol from her parents and began stealing and smoking. And Heather Howland felt an uncontrollable craving for promiscuous sexual contact. The previously faithful wife began to change partners one after another. What do you think about it?