This blog is more than an account of Near Death Experiences. It ponders in detail the tough questions of life. Who are you, and why are you here in this physical world? What happens when you die, and is there a judgment? However, most anything could appear here. This is not a news blog, archived posts are just as relevant as new posts. Check the boxes at the top of the page for the Contents, Contact, Forum and other links.
I decided to post a list of things that skeptics claim cause near death experiences, or can duplicate a near death experience. These “causes” were taken directly from skeptical articles and writings. In truth, skeptics know very little about near death experiences, I have never met one that did. The one important fact that they ignore is that NDEs are really caused by clinical death. We have good, solid research on this, showing that consciousness continues after the death of the brain and body. Nothing physical can cause a classical near death experience. But on the list below are only physical causes because skeptics still falsely believe that the spiritual world is nonsense. That is their loss.
Hallucinations caused by trauma
Ketamine, a general anaesthetic and tranquilizer
Anecdotal nonsense
Fizzing neurons in my oxygen-starved brain
Anesthesia awareness, in which a person is conscious but can’t move
Fighter pilots experiencing rapid acceleration in a centrifuge
Psychosis, due to severe neurochemical imbalance
Sluggish brain activity
Sound transmission through the operating table itself (love this one)
Dimethyltryptamine, (DMT) a naturally-occurring tryptamine and psychedelic drug
Electrical stimulation of the temporal lobe
High levels of carbon dioxide (hypercarbia)
REM intrusion
Cascade of electrical activity in a dying brain
LSD, psilocarpine, and/or mescaline
Altered blood levels of carbon dioxide and potassium
Pineal gland, home to this “spirit molecule.”
Recollections, consisting of fragmented and random memories
Delusions while using drugs or alcohol
Tricks of the mind
False memories
Brain states that occur due to a dying
Neural noise, the effect would be a light at the center
Cerebral anoxia, the lack of oxygen to the brain
Dissociation, a typical reaction to stress
Rapid firing of neuronal mechanisms
NDE accounts may have been contaminated
NDEs are the work of Satan
Telepathic communications from doctors, nurses
Overheard while in a groggy state
Use of Ouija board while stoned on marijuana
Septic shock, from myocardial ischemia (Cardiogenic shock)
Temporolimbic epilepsy
Dreams, just dreams
Near-Death Experiences are in the Mind
Nothing more than neuronal events
(Now which one is it, or it is all of them, or part of them, that a rational person is supposed to believe. Skeptics speak nonsense.)
After looking through this list if you see anything I have missed, please add it as a comment to this post. I will thank you for it.
There is a lot of doctrine about salvation in contemporary religions. But not much agreement as to how salvation is supposed to work, or if it is a valid spiritual topic in the first place.
The Bible shows us conflicting passages, some passages say the sins of the father will be visited upon the children even to the third and fourth generations. While other passages say the opposite, it is only the person who sinned that will receive punishment and his children will not be punished for the sins of his father.
Punishment of the children for their fathers iniquity.:
(Exodus 20:5) – “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,”
Children are not punished for the iniquity of their fathers.:
(Ezekiel 18:20) – “The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.”
During my near death experience I stood in the presence of God, and felt only love, unconditional love. I believe God is just, and fair, and loving. I don’t think He would ever punish anyone, especially for the sins of another. Jesus didn’t think so either when He healed the man that was born blind.
John 9:2
And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
John 9:3
Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
The idea of original sin goes back to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. But it is not clear why God would put a temptation in front of His newly created souls, with the instruction of “don’t eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.” I believe the author of Genesis 2 meant to explain why the world of his day contained so much evil by blaming it onto the first created humans. Writing that it was Adam and Eve that started all the troubles we saw in the world then, and currently see in the world today. But we know that God gave man free will, and with free will comes the knowledge of good and evil. It is the choices we make in our daily lives that determine our future.
So if there was an original sin by Adam and Eve, God does not hold all His children responsible for the mistakes of a few. Each person is responsible for their own actions and thoughts in this physical world. Without free will man would not be able to choose anything at all. We would be little more than bio-robots, controlled by God. However, by the grace of God, with free will, we can become helpers to God, co-creators with Him after we have proven we understand the benefits of choosing good over evil. So we come into physical life on earth to learn these lessons of choosing good (God) and learning to love as God loves us.
Now where does that leave “Salvation.” Who or what do we need to be saved from? The obvious answer is ourselves, we need to be saved from ourselves, or rather all our bad choices in life. Our bad habits, our haughty attitudes, our cheating, lying, and harming of others. All this is caused by a lack of love for others. Our ultimate salvation lies in Love. Learning about love, understanding the power of love, holding love for ourselves, and all others. Freely giving and using love in our lives every minute of every day. Love is our salvation.
“Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love doesn’t demand its own way. It’s not irritable or touchy. It doesn’t hold grudges and will not notice when others do it wrong. It’s never glad about injustice, but rejoices in truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends”. — Saint Paul.
Love will never leave you, but you can leave Love. Learn to live in Love. Love will bring you peace, calm, and joy. The path to freedom is the path of Love. It is also the path to God which is unconditional Love.
I never thought much about skepticism before my near death experience. That was before skeptics started telling me I was dreaming, hallucinating, or just making up my experience. I found it odd that these people seemed to know more about my intensely personal experience than I did. Or did they?
Skeptics have been with us a long time. They told George Washington that he could never defeat the British, and they told Lincoln he could never unify our divided country. Every great person had their skeptics to deal with, including Bell, Wright, Edison, Ford, the list is emormous.
Skeptics of near death experiences are only more of the same. We have the evidence now in books,research,videos of surgery,documentaries, and veridical NDEs showing that our consciousness’ will live after the death of our bodies. Dozens of universities with hundreds of researchers are studying near death experiences. Yet the skeptics keep raising old doubts long debunked by the researchers.
Society doesn’t seem to think much about skeptics either. While you can find statues and memorials to the great thinkers, researchers and statesmen of our world most everywhere in parks, you can’t find a single statue erected in honor of a skeptic for his great skepticism anywhere. There are no awards for skepticism, no medals, or prize money.
So while thinkers, reseachers, and statemen go on showing us the path to future knowledge and accomplishments, the skeptics will go on sitting, doing nothing, helping no one, just skepticizing.
In the game of football forward progress is made in two ways. You can run with the football, or you can pass the football to someone else in a better position to run it for you. Whether you run or pass often depends on the opposition. I can remember when the University of Oklahoma seldom passed the ball. They relied on the run nearly all the time. This was often called “five yards and a cloud of dust” football. They won six national championships by mostly running the football. But the opposition gradually became tougher and Oklahoma was forced to use a balanced offense, one that included running and passing equally well to win.
In the game of life it is the balanced approach that wins the game most often. We can’t always carry all the burdens of life all the time. We must learn to let others help us. Learn to share our responsibilities. It is just as important to allow others to help us, as it is for us to help others. We can learn from them better ways of handling the problems we meet in the game of life. Sharing our burdens by discussing them in support groups is an excellent way to lighten them. There are free support groups for most everything meeting in the larger cities. You can find them, and when they meet at the local library. It is the wise person that reaches out to others in times of trouble and confusion. “Ask and you will receive, knock and the door will open.”
Then there are times of trouble and confusion so strong it seems no one can helps us. No matter what we do it seems to be wrong, and leads to more worry, anxiety, even depression. These are the times we pass all our burdens into the capable hands of our Creator, the One who loves us unconditionally. He will lift our burdens and make them light. In Him there is peace and rest. Calm waters, and smooth sailing abide within His love. So let go of your cares and woes, your heavy burdens of fear, pass them into His willing hands of light and rest your weary soul within His love.
