Answering the question “What happens to a person after death?”, Biologists clarify: when a multicellular organism dies, some cells still function for several days. Scientists conducted research, the results of which determined the work of genes in the corpses of animals.

After the death of a person, all the vital activity of the organism does not immediately stop. Biological processes take place in the body of the deceased for some time, because not all tissues have received a “signal” that they are now useless. The shutdown of systems occurs gradually, and after some time they stop working. Hair and nail cells no longer multiply.

Scientific point of view, what happens to a person after death

Peter Noble, Alexander Pozhitkov and a group of other biologists from the University of Washington conducted scientific work, which aims to investigate gene activity and organ function in zebrafish and mice when they died.

First of all, transcripts were counted - RNA molecules that are formed during transcription (reading of DTCs), and which are either carriers of information encoded in genes to protein synthesis sites, or regulators of the activity of other genes. When the number of specific transcripts increases, this means that the activity of this gene has increased.

As part of the study, geneticists determined the concentration of different mRNA molecules in 43 fish, as well as the brain and liver of 20 mice. The indicators were taken several times at equal intervals of time for 4 days after the death of the experimental subjects. The data obtained were compared with those observed at the time of death. As time passed, the concentration of mRNA did decrease, but the transcripts associated with 548 genes in fish and 515 mice reached peak numbers after the death of the experimental subjects. Therefore, the conclusion is as follows: the body of the deceased has a reserve of energy so that some genes continue to be active for some time, even though all biological system and died.

Peter Noble said: the researchers made it clear that after death there are some cycles of activity of specific genes that do not stop working. In parallel, another part of DNA is a victim of decay and chaos. After death, genes with different functions are activated: embryonic development, the formation of cancerous tumors, for example. The study showed that they were most active a day after death. Similar processes take place in a person after death. In 2013, scientists at the University of Granada stated that many genes remain active for up to 12 hours after a person dies.

Scientists have tried with scientific point view to explain why some genes are activated after death. According to some conclusions, their activity is caused by participation in the processes of wound healing and recovery of the body after injuries.

The results of research by scientists can help in conducting forensic examinations. When experts know how much gene activity rises and falls after a person's death, they will be able to more accurately determine the time of death. The work of experts will be greatly improved, but more research is needed so that the knowledge gained becomes the basis of new methods.

What scientifically happens to the human body after death:

• - the person died, but this does not mean that all the cells died. Some of them remain active, which is probably why they are able to clinical death people see light at the end of the tunnel;
• - after 12-18 hours, cadaveric spots appear on the body of the deceased. For criminalists they are a source of some information - what damage was done to a person, whether the body was moved from place to place;
• - even if a day has passed since death, immune cells are still alive, they fight toxins, unwanted substances;
• - after 36 hours, the heart valves will remain suitable for transplantation;
• - after 72 hours, the cornea of ​​the eye is still alive and can be transplanted within 3 days;
• - after 96 hours gases are released. They accumulate inside, put pressure on the organs, as a result of which the position of the tissues changes. An unpleasant moment is when sounds come from the corpse.

Further, the body begins to decompose, an unpleasant odor appears, tissues soften, and liquid is released. If it is hot in the room or place where the corpse is located, it decomposes faster, and insects begin to lay larvae in it.

In the culture of Western civilizations, there are three main concepts about what happens to people after death. posthumous existence in Paradise or Hell in religions, the concept of materialists and reincarnation (the concept of the cycle of rebirth).

The most common version of what happens to people after death is the concept of Hell and Heaven. But this is typical only for Western religions. According to this concept, the Supreme Being judges human souls after their death. Curiously, in some they are punished for certain actions, but in others they are punished for completely different ones. As a result, it turns out that most souls end up in Hell, where they are doomed to eternal torment and incredible suffering. Only a small percentage of the righteous who follow strict rules have a chance of entering Paradise.

In the science of Western civilization, the concept of materialism has become most widespread. What happens to people after death according to materialists? Consciousness - as a product of the activity of the brain - completely stops its activity after the death of the brain itself. On the other hand, a lot of different studies, which were conducted mainly in American and English clinics, show that in most people during clinical death, consciousness is not interrupted even in the absence of brain activity. Also, the flow of sensations is not interrupted.

During these studies, the purpose of which was to explain what happens to people after death, scientists were not interested in the nature of individual experiences (most people claimed to have seen their bodies from the side, heard some voices), but the very facts of these experiences in moment of death. The absence of electrical impulses of the brain baffled science. When decent statistics were accumulated, scientists came to the conclusion that the very existence of experiences is completely independent of whether brain activity and electrical nerve impulses are stopped in time or continue. If we accept the theory that consciousness is a product of the brain, then a person will not be able to experience anything at the time of the absence of brain activity. That is, he will not be able to realize the fact that he died. However, research contradicts the theory.

Finally, there is another concept that attempts to answer the question, "What happens to people after death?" This is the theory of rebirth (of reincarnation). According to this view, our consciousness does not disappear after the death of the physical body. It, like everything that surrounds us, simply passes into other forms and states. After the death of a mother, father, son, daughter, or other loved one, many people choose to believe this particular theory. The Celts, for example, had a custom according to which a person who borrowed an amount wrote a will. After his death, he promised to return this money, but in another body. And this practice was considered normal. Reincarnation is found not only among the peoples of the East. Even Pythagoras became one of the first philosophers who began to openly express ideas about the rebirth of souls. The scientist himself often said that he remembers his past incarnations.

One of the eternal questions to which humanity does not have a clear answer is what awaits us after death?

Ask this question to the people around you and you will get different answers. They will depend on what the person believes. And regardless of faith, many are afraid of death. They don't just try to acknowledge the very fact of its existence. But only our physical body dies, and the soul is eternal.

There was no time when neither I nor you existed. And in the future, none of us will cease to exist.

Bhagavad Gita. Chapter two. Soul in the world of matter.

Why are so many people afraid of death?

Because they relate their "I" only with the physical body. They forget that each of them has an immortal, eternal soul. They do not know what happens during and after death. This fear is generated by our ego, which accepts only what can be proven through experience. Is it possible to know what death is and whether there is an afterlife “without harm to health”?

All over the world there are a sufficient number of documented stories of people who went through clinical death.

Scientists on the verge of proof of life after death

An unexpected experiment was carried out in September 2013. at the English Hospital in Southampton. Doctors recorded the testimonies of patients who had experienced clinical death. Supervisor research group cardiologist Sam Parnia shared the results:

“Since the early days of my medical career, I have been interested in the problem of “incorporeal sensations”. In addition, some of my patients have experienced clinical death. Gradually, I got more and more stories from those who assured me that in a state of coma they flew over their own body. However, there was no scientific confirmation of such information. And I decided to find an opportunity to test it in a hospital setting.

For the first time in history, a medical facility was specially refurbished. In particular, in the wards and operating rooms, we hung thick boards with colored drawings under the ceiling. And most importantly, they began to carefully, down to seconds, record everything that happens to each patient.

From the moment his heart stopped, his pulse and breathing stopped. And in those cases when the heart was then able to start and the patient began to recover, we immediately wrote down everything he did and said.

All behavior and all words, gestures of each patient. Now our knowledge of "incorporeal sensations" is much more systematized and complete than before.

Almost a third of patients clearly and clearly remember themselves in a coma. At the same time, no one saw the drawings on the boards!

Sam and his colleagues came to the following conclusions:

“From a scientific point of view, the success is considerable. Installed general feeling in people who seem to crossed the threshold of the "other world" . They suddenly begin to understand everything. Completely free from pain. They feel pleasure, comfort, even bliss. They see their dead relatives and friends. They are enveloped in soft and very pleasant light. Around the atmosphere of extraordinary kindness.”

When asked if the participants in the experiment thought they had been to “another world,” Sam replied:

“Yes, and although this world was somewhat mystical for them, it still was. As a rule, patients reached a gate or some other place in the tunnel, from where there was no way back and where it was necessary to decide whether to return ...

And you know, almost everyone now has a completely different perception of life. It has changed due to the fact that a person has passed a moment of blissful spiritual existence. Almost all of my wards admitted that no longer afraid of death even though they don't want to die.

The transition to the other world turned out to be an unusual and pleasant experience. Many after the hospital began to work in charitable organizations.”

The experiment is currently ongoing. Another 25 British hospitals are joining the study.

The memory of the soul is immortal

The soul exists, and it does not die with the body. Dr. Parnia's confidence is shared by the UK's biggest medical luminary. The famous professor of neurology from Oxford, the author of works translated into many languages, Peter Fenis rejects the opinion of the majority of scientists on the planet.

They believe that the body, ceasing its functions, releases certain chemicals that, passing through the brain, really cause extraordinary sensations in a person.

“The brain does not have time to carry out the “closing procedure,” says Prof. Fenis.

“For example, during a heart attack, a person sometimes loses consciousness at lightning speed. Along with consciousness, memory also disappears. So how can you discuss episodes that people are unable to remember? But since they clearly talk about what happened to them when their brain activity was turned off, therefore, there is a soul, spirit or something else that allows you to be in consciousness outside the body.

What happens after dying?

The physical body is not the only one we have. In addition to it, there are several thin bodies assembled according to the principle of a nesting doll. The subtle level closest to us is called ether or astral. We simultaneously exist both in the material world and in the spiritual. In order to maintain life in the physical body, food and drink are needed to maintain Vital energy in our astral body we need communication with the universe and with the surrounding material world.

Death terminates the existence of the densest of all our bodies, and the astral body breaks the connection with reality. The astral body, being released from the physical shell, is transported to a different quality - to the soul. And the soul has a connection only with the Universe. This process is described in sufficient detail by people who have experienced clinical death.

Naturally, they do not describe its last stage, for they fall only on the closest to the material substance level, their astral body has not yet lost its connection with the physical body, and they are not fully aware of the fact of death. The transport of the astral body into the soul is called the second death. After that, the soul goes to another world. Once there, the soul discovers that it consists of different levels, intended for souls of varying degrees of development.

When the death of the physical body occurs, the subtle bodies begin to gradually separate. Thin bodies also have different densities, and, accordingly, a different amount of time is required for their decay.

On the third day after the physical, the etheric body, which is called the aura, disintegrates.

After nine days the emotional body disintegrates, after forty days the mental body. The body of the spirit, soul, experience - casual - is sent to the space between lives.

Suffering greatly for departed loved ones, we thereby prevent their subtle bodies from dying at the right time. Thin shells get stuck where they shouldn't be. Therefore, you need to let them go, thanking for all the experience lived together.

Is it possible to consciously look beyond the other side of life?

As a person puts on new clothes, discarding the old and worn out, so the soul incarnates in a new body, leaving the old and lost strength.

Bhagavad Gita. Chapter 2. Soul in the material world.

Each of us has lived more than one life, and this experience is stored in our memory.

Every soul has a different experience of dying. And it can be remembered.

Why remember the experience of dying in past lives? To take a different look at this stage. To understand what actually happens at the moment of dying and after it. Finally, to stop being afraid of death.

At the Institute of Reincarnation, you can experience dying using simple techniques. For those in whom the fear of death is too strong, there is a safety technique that allows you to painlessly view the process of the exit of the soul from the body.

Here are some student testimonials about their experience of dying.

Kononuchenko Irina , a first-year student at the Institute of Reincarnation:

I looked through several dying in different bodies: female and male.

After a natural death in a female incarnation (I am 75 years old), the soul did not want to ascend to the World of Souls. I was waiting for mine your soul mate - a husband who is still alive. In life he was for me important person and close friend.

Feels like we lived soul to soul. I died first, the Soul came out through the area of ​​the third eye. Understanding the grief of her husband after “my death”, I wanted to support him with my invisible presence, and I didn’t want to leave myself. After some time, when both of them "got used to and got used to" in the new state, I ascended to the World of Souls and waited for him there.

After natural death in the body of a man (harmonious incarnation), the Soul easily said goodbye to the body and ascended to the world of Souls. There was a feeling of a mission accomplished, a lesson successfully passed, a feeling of satisfaction. Immediately took place meeting with the mentor and discussion of life.

In a violent death (I am a man dying on the battlefield from a wound), the Soul leaves the body through the chest area, there is a wound. Until the moment of death, life flashed before my eyes. I am 45 years old, my wife, children ... I so want to see them and hug them .. and I’m like this .. it’s not clear where and how ... and alone. Tears in the eyes, regret for the "unlived" life. After leaving the body, it is not easy for the Soul, it is again met by the Helping Angels.

Without additional energy reconfiguration, I (the soul) cannot independently free myself from the burden of incarnation (thoughts, emotions, feelings). It seems like a "capsule-centrifuge", where through a strong rotation-acceleration there is an increase in frequencies and a "separation" from the experience of incarnation.

Marina Kana, 1st year student of the Institute of Reincarnation:

In total, I went through 7 experiences of dying, of which three were violent. I will describe one of them.

Young woman, Ancient Russia. I was born in a large peasant family, I live in unity with nature, I love to spin with my girlfriends, sing songs, walk in the forest and fields, help my parents with the housework, babysit younger brothers and sisters. Men are not interested, the physical side of love is not clear. A guy wooed, but she was afraid of him.

I saw how she carried water on a yoke, he blocked the road, pesters: “You will still be mine!” To prevent others from wooing, I started a rumor that I was not of this world. And I’m glad, I don’t need anyone, I told my parents that I won’t get married.

She did not live long, she died at the age of 28, she was not married. She died of a strong fever, lay in the heat and delirium all wet, her hair matted with sweat. Mother sits nearby, sighs, wipes with a wet rag, gives water to drink from a wooden ladle. The soul flies out of the head, as if it is pushed out from the inside when the mother went out into the hallway.

The soul looks down on the body, no regret. The mother enters and begins to cry. Then the father comes running to the screams, shaking his fists at the sky, shouting to the dark icon in the corner of the hut: “What have you done!” The children huddled together, hushed and frightened. The soul leaves calmly, no one is sorry.

Then the soul seems to be drawn into a funnel, flying up to the light. The outlines are similar to steam clubs, next to them are the same clouds, spinning, intertwining, rushing up. Fun and easy! Knows that life has lived as planned. In the World of Souls, laughing, the beloved soul meets (this is an unfaithful husband from a previous life ). She understands why she left life early - it became not interesting to live, knowing that he was not in incarnation, she strove for him faster.

Simonova Olga , 1st year student of the Institute of Reincarnation

All my deaths were similar. Separation from the body and a smooth rise above it .. and then just as smoothly up above the Earth. Basically, these are natural deaths in old age.

One overlooked the violent (cutting off of the head), but she saw it outside the body, as if from the outside and did not feel any tragedy. On the contrary, relief and gratitude to the executioner. Life was aimless, female incarnation. The woman wanted to commit suicide in her youth, as she was left without parents. She was saved, but even then she lost her meaning in life and was never able to restore it ... Therefore, she accepted a violent death as a blessing for her.

Understanding that life continues after death gives true joy from being here and now. The physical body is only a temporary vehicle for the soul. And death is natural for him. This should be accepted. To live without fear before death.

Prepared by an employee of the journal "Reincarnation"
Tatyana Zotova

To paraphrase a famous expression from a wonderful Soviet movie, one 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 so far can 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 study, since the very possibility of the existence of the soul as an immortal non-material entity and its existence 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 are accompanied by a state of clinical death, when a person’s life hangs in the balance, and his soul, according to a certain opinion, temporarily leaves the body and only after some kind of spiritual contact returns back.

Academic science interprets all the signs of this “vision of the other world” with quite practical reasons: disruption of the vestibular apparatus, ischemia (that is, impaired 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 near-death experiences have compiled a list of common experiences that characterize these states. First of all, the difficulty of describing the general state in which people lived, who, according to them, visited the other world, was noted. . What is common to almost all such cases is the inexpressibility of the experience, since something can be described only on the basis of personal experience of similar experiences, which is absent in such a situation.

In addition, the ability of a person in this state to hear everything that happens near the body, what others say, and even in a number of 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 be, however, the most diverse - from annoying and intrusive to resembling beautiful melodic music. Finally, almost all people who describe such a state talk about the visual image of the tunnel, at the end of which is bright light, as well as a general state of peace and tranquility.

What else will scientists come up with?

The complexity of considering the very possibility of scientific study of 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 said to be in 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 ambivalence comes from research led by the British scientist Sam Parnia of Southampton. Parnia over a period of time studied more than sixty patients who survived the state of clinical death. and were in a coma for a long time. Only seven of them were able to recall 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 the devices in the coma did not record the activity of the brain, which 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 in nearly thirty English and American hospitals. Certain pictures were placed on the ceilings of intensive care and postoperative wards, which were supposed to be remembered by those people who, in a state of clinical death, could separate their soul from the body and at the same time retain consciousness. But at the end of the experiment, out of more than one and a half thousand people who were clinically dead in these wards, no one remembered any pictures upon returning to life. Skeptics immediately declared that this was proof that there were no separations of the soul from the body, and the visual images seen were nothing more than hallucinations.

Alexander Babitsky

Ecology of knowledge: We have been trying to convince since school that there is no God, there is no immortal soul. At the same time, we were told that this is what science says. And we believed… Note that we BELIEVE that there is no immortal soul, BELIEVE that science supposedly proved it, BELIEVE that there is no God. None of us even tried to figure out what an impartial science says about the soul.

Any person who is faced with the death of a loved one wonders if there is life after death? In our time, this issue is of particular relevance. If a few centuries ago the answer to this question was obvious to everyone, now, after the period of atheism, it is more difficult to solve it.

We cannot simply believe hundreds of generations of our ancestors, who, through personal experience, century after century, were convinced that a person has an immortal soul. We want facts. Moreover, the facts are scientific. They tried to convince us from the school bench that there is no God, there is no immortal soul. At the same time, we were told that this is what science says. And we believed… Note that we BELIEVE that there is no immortal soul, BELIEVE that science supposedly proved it, BELIEVE that there is no God. None of us even tried to figure out what an impartial science says about the soul. We simply trusted certain authorities, without particularly going into the details of their worldview, objectivity, and their interpretation of scientific facts.

And now, when the tragedy happened, there is a conflict inside us:

We feel that the soul of the deceased is eternal, that it is alive, but on the other hand, the old and inspired stereotypes that there is no soul drag us into the abyss of despair. This struggle within us is very difficult and exhausting. We want the truth!

So let's look at the question of the existence of the soul through a real, non-ideological, objective science. We will hear the opinion of real scientists on this issue, we will personally evaluate the logical calculations. Not our FAITH in the existence or non-existence of the soul, but only KNOWLEDGE can extinguish this internal conflict, preserve our strength, give confidence, look at the tragedy from a different, real point of view.

The article will focus on Consciousness. We will analyze the question of Consciousness from the point of view of science: where is Consciousness in our body and whether it can stop its life.

What is Consciousness?

First, about what consciousness is in general. People have thought about this issue throughout the history of mankind, but still cannot come to a final decision. We know only some properties, possibilities of consciousness. Consciousness is awareness of oneself, one's personality, it is a great analyzer of all our feelings, emotions, desires, plans. Consciousness is what distinguishes us, what makes us feel ourselves not as objects, but as individuals. In other words, Consciousness miraculously reveals our fundamental existence. Consciousness is our awareness of our "I", but at the same time Consciousness is a great mystery. Consciousness has no dimensions, no form, no color, no smell, no taste; it cannot be touched or turned in one's hands. Despite the fact that we know very little about consciousness, we absolutely know that we have it.

One of the main questions of humanity is the question of the nature of this very Consciousness (soul, "I", ego). Materialism and idealism have diametrically opposed views on this issue. From the point of view of materialism, human Consciousness is the substratum of the brain, the product of matter, the product of biochemical processes, a special fusion of nerve cells. From the point of view of idealism, Consciousness is - ego, "I", spirit, soul - non-material, invisible spiritualizing the body, eternally existing, not dying energy. In the acts of consciousness, the subject always participates, which actually realizes everything.

If you are purely interested religious beliefs about the soul, then religion will not give any evidence of the existence of the soul. The doctrine of the soul is a dogma and is not subject to scientific proof.

There are absolutely no explanations, much less evidence for materialists who believe that they are impartial scientists (although this is far from the case).

But how do the majority of people who are equally far from religion, from philosophy, and from science too, imagine this Consciousness, soul, “I”? Let's ask ourselves, what is "I"?

Gender, name, profession and other role functions

The first thing that comes to the mind of the majority is: “I am a man”, “I am a woman (man)”, “I am a businessman (turner, baker)”, “I am Tanya (Katya, Alexei)”, “I am a wife ( husband, daughter)”, etc. These are certainly funny answers. One's individual, unique "I" cannot be defined in general terms. There are a huge number of people in the world with the same characteristics, but they are not your “I”. Half of them are women (men), but they are also not “I”, people with the same professions seem to have their own, and not your “I”, the same can be said about wives (husbands), people of different professions, social position, nationalities, religions, etc. No belonging to any group will explain to you what your individual “I” represents, because Consciousness is always personal. I am not qualities (qualities only belong to our “I”), because the qualities of the same person can change, but his “I” will remain unchanged.

Mental and physiological features

Some say that their "I" is their reflexes, their behavior, their individual ideas and addictions, their psychological features etc.

In fact, this cannot be the core of the personality, which is called "I". Why? Because throughout life, behavior and ideas and addictions change, and even more so psychological characteristics. It cannot be said that if earlier these features were different, then it was not my “I”.

Understanding this, some make the following argument: "I am my individual body." It's already more interesting. Let's examine this assumption.

Everyone else from school course anatomy knows that the cells of our body are gradually renewed throughout life. Old ones die (apoptosis) and new ones are born. Some cells (the epithelium of the gastrointestinal tract) are completely renewed almost every day, but there are cells that go through their life cycle much longer. On average, every 5 years, all the cells of the body are renewed. If we consider the "I" as a simple collection of human cells, then we get an absurdity. It turns out that if a person lives, for example, 70 years. During this time, at least 10 times a person will change all the cells in his body (i.e. 10 generations). Could this mean that not one person lived his 70-year life, but 10 different people? Isn't that pretty stupid? We conclude that “I” cannot be a body, because the body is not permanent, but “I” is permanent.

This means that "I" cannot be either the qualities of cells or their totality.

But here, especially erudite people give a counterargument: “Well, it’s clear with bones and muscles, it really can’t be “I”, but there are nerve cells! And they are alone for life. Maybe "I" is the sum of nerve cells?

Let's think about this together...

Is consciousness made up of nerve cells?

Materialism is accustomed to decomposing the entire multidimensional world into mechanical components, “checking harmony with algebra” (A.S. Pushkin). The most naive fallacy of militant materialism in relation to personality is the notion that personality is a collection of biological qualities. However, the combination of impersonal objects, whether they be even atoms, even neurons, cannot give rise to a personality and its core - “I”.

How can there be this most complex "I", feeling, capable of experiencing, love, just the sum of specific cells of the body, along with ongoing biochemical and bioelectrical processes? How can these processes form the "I"???

Provided that if the nerve cells were our "I", then we would lose part of our "I" every day. With every dead cell, with every neuron, the "I" would get smaller and smaller. With the restoration of cells, it would increase in size.

Scientific research carried out in different countries world prove that nerve cells, like all other cells of the human body, are capable of regeneration (recovery). Here is what the most serious international biological journal Nature writes: “Employees of the California Institute for Biological Research. Salk discovered that in the brain of adult mammals, fully functional young cells are born that function on a par with already existing neurons. Professor Frederick Gage and his colleagues also concluded that brain tissue is most rapidly renewed in physically active animals.

This is confirmed by the publication in another authoritative, peer-reviewed biological journal - Science: “Within two recent years researchers have found that nerve and brain cells are updated, like the rest in the human body. The body is capable of repairing nerve damage on its own,” says scientist Helen M. Blon.”

Thus, even with a complete change of all (including nerve) cells of the body, the “I” of a person remains the same, therefore, it does not belong to the constantly changing material body.

For some reason, in our time it is so difficult to prove what was obvious and understandable to the ancients. The Roman Neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus, who still lived in the 3rd century, wrote: “It is absurd to assume that since none of the parts has life, then life can be created by their totality, .. besides, it is completely impossible for life to produce a heap of parts, and that the mind gave birth to that which is devoid of mind. If someone objects that this is not so, but that in fact the soul is formed by atoms that have come together, that is, indivisible into parts of the body, then he will be refuted by the fact that the atoms themselves only lie one next to the other, without forming a living whole, for unity and joint feeling cannot be obtained from bodies insensitive and incapable of unification; but the soul feels itself” 2.

"I" is the unchanging core of the personality, which includes many variables, but is not itself variable.

The skeptic may make a last desperate argument: "Is it possible that 'I' is the brain?"

Is Consciousness a product of brain activity? What does science say?

The tale that our Consciousness is the activity of the brain was heard by many at school. The notion that the brain is essentially a person with his “I” is extremely widespread. Most people think that it is the brain that receives information from the surrounding world, processes it and decides how to act in each specific case, they think that it is the brain that makes us alive, gives us personality. And the body is nothing more than a spacesuit that ensures the activity of the central nervous system.

But this tale has nothing to do with science. The brain is now deeply studied. Long and well studied chemical composition, parts of the brain, connections of these parts with human functions. The brain organization of perception, attention, memory, and speech has been studied. The functional blocks of the brain have been studied. A large number of clinics and scientific centers have been studying the human brain for more than a hundred years, for which expensive, efficient equipment has been developed. But, having opened any textbooks, monographs, scientific journals in neurophysiology or neuropsychology, you will not find scientific data on the connection of the brain with Consciousness.

For people far from this field of knowledge, this seems surprising. In fact, there is nothing surprising in this. It's just that no one has ever discovered the connection between the brain and the very center of our personality, our "I". Of course, materialistic scientists have always wanted this. Thousands of studies and millions of experiments were carried out, many billions of dollars were spent on this. The efforts of scientists were not in vain. Thanks to these studies, the parts of the brain themselves were discovered and studied, their connection with physiological processes was established, a lot was done to understand neurophysiological processes and phenomena, but the most important thing was not done. It was not possible to find in the brain the place that is our "I". It was not even possible, despite the extremely active work in this direction, to make a serious assumption about how the brain can be connected with our Consciousness.

Where did the assumption that Consciousness resides in the brain come from? Such an assumption was put forward in the middle of the 18th century by the famous electrophysiologist Dubois-Reymond (1818-1896). In his worldview, Dubois-Reymond was one of the brightest representatives of the mechanistic direction. In one of the letters to his friend, he wrote that “only physical and chemical laws operate in the body; if not everything can be explained with their help, then it is necessary, using physical and mathematical methods, either to find a way of their action, or to accept that there are new forces of matter, equal in value to physical and chemical forces.

But another outstanding physiologist Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig (Ludwig, 1816-1895) who lived at the same time as Reymond, who headed the new Physiological Institute in Leipzig in 1869-1895, which became the world's largest center in the field of experimental physiology, did not agree with him. Founder scientific school, Ludwig wrote that none of the existing theories nervous activity, including and electrical theory Dubois-Reymond nerve currents, cannot say anything about how, as a result of the activity of the nerves, acts of sensation become possible. Note that here we are talking not even about the most complex acts of consciousness, but about much simpler sensations. If there is no consciousness, then we cannot feel and feel anything.

Another prominent physiologist of the 19th century, the outstanding English neurophysiologist Sir Charles Scott Sherrington, Nobel Prize winner, said that if it is not clear how the psyche arises from the activity of the brain, then, naturally, it is just as little clear how it can have any influence on the behavior of a living being, which is controlled by the nervous system.

As a result, Dubois-Reymond himself came to this conclusion: “As we are aware, we do not know and will never know. And no matter how deep we go into the jungle of intracerebral neurodynamics, we will not throw a bridge to the realm of consciousness.” Reymon came to a conclusion, disappointing for determinism, that it is impossible to explain Consciousness by material causes. He acknowledged that "here the human mind runs into" world riddle which he will never be able to solve" 4.

Professor of Moscow University, philosopher A.I. Vvedensky in 1914 formulated the law of "the absence of objective signs of animation." The meaning of this law is that the role of the psyche in the system of material processes of regulation of behavior is absolutely elusive and there is no conceivable bridge between the activity of the brain and the area of ​​mental or spiritual phenomena, including Consciousness.

Leading experts in neurophysiology, Nobel Prize winners David Hubel and Thorsten Wiesel recognized that in order to be able to assert the connection between the brain and Consciousness, it is necessary to understand what reads and decodes the information that comes from the senses. Scientists have recognized that this is impossible to do.

There is an interesting and convincing proof of the lack of connection between Consciousness and the work of the brain, understandable even to people who are far from science. Here it is:

Suppose that "I" (Consciousness) is the result of the work of the brain. As neurophysiologists know for sure, a person can live even with one hemisphere of the brain. At the same time, he will have Consciousness. A person who lives only with the right hemisphere of the brain certainly has an "I" (Consciousness). Accordingly, we can conclude that the "I" is not in the left, absent, hemisphere. A person with a single functioning left hemisphere also has a "I", therefore "I" is not in the right hemisphere, which this person does not have. Consciousness remains regardless of which hemisphere is removed. This means that a person does not have a brain area responsible for Consciousness, neither in the left nor in the right hemisphere of the brain. We have to conclude that the presence of consciousness in a person is not associated with certain areas of the brain.

Professor, MD Voino-Yasenetsky describes: “In a young wounded man, I opened a huge abscess (about 50 cubic cm, pus), which undoubtedly destroyed the entire left frontal lobe, and I did not observe any mental defects after this operation. I can say the same about another patient operated on for a huge cyst of the meninges. During a wide opening of the skull, I was surprised to see that almost the entire right half of it was empty, and the entire left hemisphere of the brain was compressed, almost to the point of impossibility to distinguish it.

In 1940, Dr. Augustin Iturricha made sensational statement at the Anthropological Society in Sucre (Bolivia). He and Dr. Ortiz took a long history of a 14-year-old boy, a patient at Dr. Ortiz's clinic. The teenager was there with a diagnosis of brain tumor. The young man retained Consciousness until his death, complained only of a headache. When, after his death, an autopsy was performed, the doctors were amazed: the entire brain mass was completely separated from the internal cavity of the cranium. A large abscess captured the cerebellum and part of the brain. It remained completely incomprehensible how the thinking of the sick boy was preserved.

The fact that consciousness exists independently of the brain is also confirmed by recent studies by Dutch physiologists led by Pim van Lommel. The results of a large-scale experiment were published in the most authoritative English biological journal The Lancet. “Consciousness exists even after the brain has ceased to function. In other words, Consciousness “lives” by itself, absolutely independently. As for the brain, it is not a thinking matter at all, but an organ, like any other, that performs strictly defined functions. It is very possible that thinking matter, even in principle, does not exist, said the head of the study, the famous scientist Pim van Lommel.

Another argument accessible to the understanding of non-specialists is given by Professor V.F. Voyno-Yasenetsky: “In the wars of ants that do not have a brain, deliberateness is clearly revealed, and therefore intelligence, which is no different from a human one” 8. This is really amazing fact. Ants solve rather difficult tasks of survival, building housing, providing themselves with food, i.e. have a certain intelligence, but no brain at all. Makes you think, doesn't it?

Neurophysiology does not stand still, but is one of the most dynamically developing sciences. The methods and scale of research speak of the success of the study of the brain. Functions, parts of the brain are being studied, its composition is being clarified in more detail. Despite the titanic work on the study of the brain, world science today is also far from understanding what creativity, thinking, memory are and what is their connection with the brain itself.

What is the nature of Consciousness?

Having come to the understanding that there is no Consciousness inside the body, science draws natural conclusions about the non-material nature of consciousness.

Academician P.K. Anokhin: “None of the “mental” operations that we attribute to the “mind” have so far been directly linked to any part of the brain. If, in principle, we cannot understand how exactly the psychic arises as a result of the activity of the brain, then isn’t it more logical to think that the psyche is not in its essence a function of the brain at all, but is a manifestation of some other - non-material spiritual forces? nine

At the end of the 20th century, the creator quantum mechanics, Nobel Prize winner E. Schrödinger wrote that the nature of the connection of some physical processes with subjective events (which include Consciousness) lies "away from science and beyond human understanding."

The largest modern neurophysiologist, Nobel Prize winner in medicine J. Eccles developed the idea that it is impossible to determine the origin of mental phenomena based on the analysis of brain activity, and this fact can be easily interpreted in the sense that the psyche is not a function of the brain at all. According to Eccles, neither physiology nor the theory of evolution can shed light on the origin and nature of consciousness, which is absolutely alien to all material processes in the universe. Spiritual world man and the world of physical realities, including the activity of the brain, are completely independent independent worlds that only interact and to some extent influence each other. He is echoed by such prominent experts as Carl Lashley (an American scientist, director of the primate biology laboratory in Orange Park (Florida), who studied the mechanisms of the brain) and Edward Tolman, doctor of Harvard University.

With his colleague, the founder of modern neurosurgery, Wilder Penfield, who performed over 10,000 brain surgeries, Eccles wrote the book The Mystery of Man. bodies." “I can confirm experimentally,” writes Eccles, “that the workings of consciousness cannot be explained by the functioning of the brain. Consciousness exists independently of it from the outside.

According to Eccles' deep conviction, consciousness cannot be an object scientific research. In his opinion, the emergence of consciousness, as well as the emergence of life, is the highest religious mystery. In his report, the Nobel laureate relied on the conclusions of the book "Personality and the Brain", written jointly with the American philosopher and sociologist Karl Popper.

Wilder Penfield, as a result of many years of studying the activity of the brain, also came to the conclusion that “the energy of the mind is different from the energy of brain neural impulses” 11.

Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the Russian Federation, Director of the Research Institute of the Brain (RAMS RF), world-famous neurophysiologist, professor, MD Natalya Petrovna Bekhtereva: “The hypothesis that the human brain only perceives thoughts from somewhere outside, I first heard from Nobel laureate, Professor John Eccles. Of course, at the time it seemed absurd to me. But then research conducted at our St. Petersburg Research Institute of the Brain confirmed that we cannot explain the mechanics of the creative process. The brain can generate only the simplest thoughts like how to turn the pages the book you read or stir sugar in a glass. And the creative process is a manifestation of a completely new quality. As a believer, I admit the participation of the Almighty in the management of the thought process” 12.

Science is gradually coming to the conclusion that the brain is not the source of thought and consciousness, but at most its relay.

Professor S. Grof says this about it: “Imagine that your TV has broken down and you called a TV technician who, by twisting different knobs, set it up. It doesn’t occur to you that all these stations are sitting in this box” 13.

Back in 1956, the outstanding largest scientist-surgeon, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor V.F. Voyno-Yasenetsky believed that our brain is not only not connected with Consciousness, but is not even capable of thinking independently, since the mental process is taken out of its limits. In his book, Valentin Feliksovich claims that “the brain is not an organ of thought, feelings”, and that “the Spirit goes beyond the brain, determining its activity, and our entire being, when the brain works as a transmitter, receiving signals and transmitting them to the organs of the body” fourteen.

The same conclusions were reached by English researchers Peter Fenwick from the London Institute of Psychiatry and Sam Parnia from Southampton Central Clinic. They examined patients who came back to life after cardiac arrest, and found that some of them accurately recounted the content of the conversations that the medical staff had while they were in a state of clinical death. Others gave exact description events that occurred during this time period. Sam Parnia argues that the brain, like any other organ in the human body, is made up of cells and is incapable of thinking. However, it can function as a mind-detecting device, i.e. as an antenna, with which it becomes possible to receive a signal from the outside. Scientists suggested that during clinical death, the Consciousness, acting independently of the brain, uses it as a screen. Like a television receiver, which first receives the waves that enter it, and then converts them into sound and image.

If we turn off the radio, this does not mean that the radio station stops broadcasting. That is, after the death of the physical body, Consciousness continues to live.

The fact of the continuation of the life of Consciousness after the death of the body is also confirmed by Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Director of the Research Institute of the Human Brain, Professor N.P. Bekhterev in his book “The Magic of the Brain and the Labyrinths of Life”. In addition to discussing purely scientific issues, in this book the author also cites his own personal experience encounters with post-mortem phenomena.

Natalya Bekhtereva, talking about a meeting with the Bulgarian clairvoyant Vanga Dimitrova, speaks quite definitely about this in one of her interviews: “The example of Vanga absolutely convinced me that there is a phenomenon of contact with the dead,” and another quote from her book: “ I can't believe what I've heard and seen myself. A scientist does not have the right to reject facts (if he is a scientist!) just because they do not fit into a dogma, worldview” 12.

The first consistent description of life after death based on scientific observations was given by the Swedish scientist and naturalist Emmanuel Swedenborg. Then this problem was seriously studied by the famous psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler Ross, no less famous psychiatrist Raymond Moody, conscientious academics Oliver Lodge15,16, William Crookes17, Alfred Wallace, Alexander Butlerov, Professor Friedrich Myers18, American pediatrician Melvin Morse. Among the serious and systematic researchers on the issue of dying, one should mention Professor of Medicine at Emory University and the staff physician at the Veterans Hospital in Atlanta, Dr. Michael Sabom, the systematic study of psychiatrist Kenneth Ring, MD Moritz Roolings, was also very valuable. , our contemporary, thanatopsychologist A.A. Nalchadzhyan. A well-known Soviet scientist, a prominent specialist in the field of thermodynamic processes, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus Albert Veinik worked a lot on understanding this problem from the point of view of physics. A significant contribution to the study of near-death experiences was made by the world-famous American psychologist of Czech origin, the founder of the transpersonal school. psychology dr Stanislav Grof.

The variety of facts accumulated by science indisputably proves that after physical death, each of the living now inherits a different reality, preserving their Consciousness.

Despite the limitations of our ability to cognize this reality with the help of material means, today there are a number of its characteristics obtained through experiments and observations of scientists investigating this problem.

These characteristics were listed by A.V. Mikheev, a researcher at the St. Petersburg State Electrotechnical University in his report at the international symposium "Life after death: from faith to knowledge" which was held on April 8-9, 2005 in St. Petersburg:

"one. There is a so-called “subtle body”, which is the carrier of self-consciousness, memory, emotions and the “inner life” of a person. This body exists ... after physical death, being for the duration of the existence of the physical body its "parallel component", providing the above processes. The physical body is only an intermediary for their manifestation on the physical (terrestrial) level.

2. The life of an individual does not end with the current earthly death. Survival after death is a natural law for man.

3. The next reality is divided into a large number of levels that differ in the frequency characteristics of their components.

4. The destination of a person during the posthumous transition is determined by his tuning to a certain level, which is the total result of his thoughts, feelings and actions during his life on Earth. Just as the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation emitted chemical, depends on its composition, just as the posthumous destination of a person is determined by the "composite characteristic" of his inner life.

5. The concepts of "Heaven and Hell" reflect two polarities, possible posthumous states.

6. In addition to such polar states, there are a number of intermediate ones. The choice of an adequate state is automatically determined by the mental-emotional "pattern" formed by a person during earthly life. That is why negative emotions, violence, the desire for destruction and fanaticism, no matter how they are justified outwardly, in this respect are extremely destructive for further fate person. This is a solid rationale for personal responsibility and following. ethical principles" nineteen.

All of the above arguments are amazingly consistent with the religious knowledge of all traditional religions. This is an occasion to cast aside doubts and decide. Is not it?

1. Cell polarity: From embryo to axon // Nature Magazine. 27.08. 2003 Vol. 421, N 6926. P 905-906 Melissa M. Rolls and Chris Q. Doe

2. Plotinus. Ennead. Treatises 1-11., "Greek-Latin cabinet" Yu. A. Shichalin, Moscow, 2007.

3. Du Bois-Reymond E. Gesammelte Abhandlungen zur allgemeinen Muskel- und Nervenphysik. bd. one.

Leipzig: Veit & Co., 1875, p. 102

4. Du Bois-Reymond, E. Gesammelte Abhandlungen zur allgemeinen Muskel- und Nervenphysik. bd. 1. P. 87

5. Kobozev NI Research in the field of thermodynamics of information and thinking processes. M.: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1971. S. 85.

6, Voyno-Yasenetsky VF Spirit, soul and body. CJSC "Brovary Printing House", 2002. P. 43.

7. Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands; Dr Pirn van Lommel MD, Ruud van Wees PhD, Vincent Meyers PhD, Ingrid Elfferich PhD // The Lancet. Dec 2001 2001. Vol 358. No 9298 P. 2039-2045.

8. Voyno-Yasenetsky VF Spirit, soul and body. CJSC "Brovary Printing House", 2002 P. 36.

9/ Anokhin P.K. Systemic mechanisms of higher nervous activity. Selected writings. Moscow, 1979, page 455.

10. Eccles J. The human mystery.

Berlin: Springer 1979. P. 176.

11. Penfield W. The mystery of the mind.

Princeton, 1975. P. 25-27

12.. I was blessed to study Through the Looking Glass. Interview with N.P. Bekhtereva newspaper "Volzhskaya Pravda", March 19, 2005.

13. Grof S. Holotropic consciousness. Three levels of human consciousness and their impact on our lives. M.: AST; Ganga, 2002, p. 267.

14. Voyno-Yasenetsky VF Spirit, soul and body. CJSC "Brovary Printing House", 2002 P.45.

15. Lodge O. Raymond or life and death.

London 1916

16. Lodge O. The survival of man.

London 1911

17. Crookes W. Researches in the phenomena of spiritualism.

London, year 1926 P. 24

18. Myers. human personality and its survival of bodily death.

London, year 1sted.1903 P. 68

19. Mikheev A. V. Life after death: from faith to knowledge

Journal "Consciousness and Physical Reality", No. 6, 2005 and in the abstracts of the international symposium "Noospheric innovations in culture, education, science, technology, healthcare", April 8 - 9, 2005, St. Petersburg.