Near Death Experiences, more commonly known as NDEs, is a scale-tipping factor of the debate that

has haunted humankind since the dawn of time is there life after death? Near Death Experiences
come in many different forms, but they occur only when the subject is in a clinically dead state with
no present vital signs. In other words, this is when the heart stops beating, when the eyes stop
responding to light, when the person stops breathing, and most importantly, when the brain stops
functioning. Near Death Experiences occur somewhere between biological death and irreversible
death, which is when the cells in the body die.
Before someone is resuscitated after vital signs cease, there is little to no brain function. Therefore,
how is it that some cardiac arrest patients can recall visions from the time period when they are
clinically dead? Cardiac arrest is when the heart stops beating and asystole (flat line) is registered on
a pulseless patient. Without the blood, the brain cannot function. Some cardiac arrest patients recall
floating up from their body and coming to rest on the ceiling, while they watch doctors frantically
trying to defibrillate and restart the heart. An argument in favor of life after death is that existing
outside of our bodies is an impossible thing, but much more importantly the brain has ceased
functioning, so there shouldnt be any memory, any consciousness or anything at all, let alone a
memory of an otherworldly experience. After the concept of NDEs were derived from many patients
recounting the same experiences, some doctors formulated a way to test whether the NDEs were
really genuine, or if they were memories or hallucinations, or if a person was lying about having had
an NDE; this was to plant pictures in places only visible from birds eye view where most patients
who say to have floated to the ceiling during their NDEs would be able to see. Some people only feel
peace and happiness when they had NDEs, and some felt nothing at all, however, therefore this
system only applied to those who had out-of-body experiences.
Other forms an NDE can take on would be seeing religious figures, though these have been
dismissed to be a form of wishful thinking or a vision generated from stored memories or beliefs.
Some people have also described seeing deceased family members, as if they have peered into the
sphere of the dead. These different recounts of NDEs can be classified by the Greyson Scale,
formulated by Bruce Greyson. This scale measures the depth of a NDE, from a mild emotion is a full-
out conscious experience. What this scale has contributed to the knowledge of NDEs is substantial,
as it is now apparent that the subjects most, if not all knew they were dead. Even though the
experiences differed, the most common were out-of-body experiences (as described before);
entering a long tunnel at high speeds as if going through a portal; seeing lost loved ones; also the
perception of a light when no light is present. The term going towards the light is derived partly
from Near Death Experiences, and is a reference to meeting a godly figure or walking towards the
afterlife in heaven.
The controversy of whether Near Death Experiences are a sign of life after death leans more in favor
of there being an afterlife. When the brain stops functioning, there wont be a consciousness as said
before. What else can this strange phenomenon of a different kind of consciousness be other than
an insight to after death? The people who have had NDEs were all in different stages of death, but it
can be said that they were all clinically dead. So, what if the people who died and came back have
already visited the afterlife, allowed access because they were already dead? What they saw
corresponds to the belief of Heaven and Hell, and the spirits of the dead. Some non-religious people
even saw visions of a God, for example Jesus when they entered the stage of being dead, and
changed their lifestyles accordingly, whether it be conversion of religion or doing more good deeds
to escape a place like Hell.
Some people believe NDEs are the making of attention-seeking people who are making these stories
up. However, many have recounted nearly the exact same experiences. To counter this, it is thought
that the knowledge of NDEs may influence people who claim to have had them; that what they
experienced was merely a projection of what they knew already. From watching a documentary, a
person would understand what an NDE was, what forms it would take, and a sort of expectation
would be built up in ones mind of what there would be if they just so happened to experience
clinical death. Since all NDEs are so similar, the visions may have just been a projection of an
expectation. As well as that, the visions differ, and not all point toward the same thing. The out-of-
body experiences may be proof that we have souls, and visions of Heaven or Hell mean that those
places exist, but there are also people who havent experienced anything at all does that mean
that life after death is only for some people? The people who have not had NDEs dont sense
anything at all, and most likely do not have a memory of ever exiting consciousness. That means,
after death, there is absolutely nothing at all.
I believe that NDEs proves that there is life after death, as there is no reasonable explanation as to
why there is a consciousness not detected by modern electro-neurographical technology (which
detects electrons in the brain). I believe that the only explanation for NDEs is that they are a peek
into life after death. As a Christian, I originally believed there was life after death, but with the
knowledge of the NDEs my belief was further backed up as even the scientific evidence explained
the impossibility of this phenomenon. I have read about the experiences of others, and one story
that has really proven to me is a short story published in Chicken Soup for the Soul. There was a
man named Billy who went into cardiac arrest a week before, and he called out to the nurse that
resuscitated him. He recounted her name from her nametag in her breast pocket, even though he
was in a clinically dead state at the time. As well as that, he told her that he saw her strawberry
blonde hair tied back in a ponytail that day, as he saw the top of her head when he had an out of
body experience. Billy thanked his savior, and the nurse Winnie was amazed. This story was
extremely personal and has led me to believe that NDEs are not a figment of ones imagination, and
they are real glimpses of death, and life in death.