Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Near-Death Experience and Journey into the Afterlife

You will always come across these talks of the afterlife and soul. But it is not essential that everyone should believe them. There are so many people across different eras who have made claims of having returned back from the afterlife. But there has been none like Dr. Eben Alexander – a 25-year-old neurosurgeon.

Since he is a neurosurgeon, his account cannot be shelved-off as an illusion

The doctor never believed that such a non-physical world existed or he had a spirit. He studied in western medical school among medical professionals for whom the concept of soul was nothing less than childish. He was always skeptical of those stories of the afterlife and saw them be nothing less than associated with imagination and hallucinations.

Then there was this experience where he entered a coma for 7 days. The coma was induced due to chronic bacterial meningitis and during this time he claims to have entered the afterlife. He states that he visited both divine and dreadful dominions. Once he returned back from that experience, he underwent unbelievable recovery and then wrote Proof of Heaven – the New York Times No.1 bestseller. According to the neurosurgeon, human life on earth is nothing more than a test for helping our souls grow. He claims that in order to be successful we should pass through this life showering everything and everyone with love and kindness.

Dr. Alexander further gave the following suggestions in his book:

• He claims that his experience was so much real that now he believes that his experience of life here on earth is unreal like a dream.
• He found that the afterlife was tied together with the fabric of love. He found that there was almost no evil there. So knowing life is the best way to know about the universe.
• He said that telepathy was the sole mode of communication in the afterlife. He didn't have to speak. Besides, he didn't feel any difference between himself and all the things happening there. When he asked many questions, the answers were also returned in telepathic form.

Dr. Alexander further states about the spiritual kingdom by saying that we all are loved much more than we have ever thought. He also states that we humans are always safe and never going to be alone. It is the endless and measureless love of God that never neglects our soul. God loves everyone without differentiating between souls.

The doctor further adds that love is at the root of everything. It is beyond the complex kind of love that cannot be understood. It is simple to love that involves showing and doing things of love in our everyday life to people and animals around us. There is no element of selfishness or jealousy in this love, but it is without any conditions. He says that this is at the core of everything in the universe. We cannot understand life and the universe without understanding this. He strongly suggests that we should all bring love in all our actions and life.

How to Trust Dr. Eben's Experience?

Why is Dr. Eben's experience different and taken so seriously by the medical and scientific community? When he was in a coma, his neocortex was not functioning at all. This was because he was suffering from severe bacterial meningitis. This clearly states that there is no scientific reason for this experience. In other words, his brain could not have imagined everything that happened. So it was not an illusion! According to him, almost a dozen potential scientific reasons cannot be attributed to his experience.

Looking at Naturalistic Explanations - Proof of Heaven

He has himself given 5 likely reasons in his book ‘Proof of Heaven. They can be too complex for us ordinary folks to understand because they have neuroscience terminology.

• It could have been a primitive program in the brainstem for easing the deadly pain and suffering. But he refuted this reason because it could not explain why he was able to recollect the experience with such vividness.
• It may have been caused because of the DMT dump. So what is DMT? It is a serotonin agonist that occurs in our body related to those hallucinations and the state that is so much like dreams. The doctor states that he has familiarity with the experiences caused by drugs linked to serotonin agonists/antagonists or in other words LSDs which he used during his teen years.

On the other hand, his experience with DMT has been through the monitoring of patients. Its effects would have required a properly functional visual/auditory neocortex where the thorough audiovisual experience could have been generated when he was in a coma. But that could not have been the case under any circumstances because an extended coma because of bacterial meningitis had caused severe damage to his neocortex. It is this region where all serotonin from raphe nuclei in his brainstem could make an impact on his audiovisual experiences. However, this was not possible because the doctor’s cortex was shut down and the DMT didn't have any place in his brain to take action.

• Another reason he conjured is the hazy recollection of memories from deep regions in his limbic system. This system has sufficient brain tissue over it to protect against meningitis inflammation. The inflammation usually affects the surface of the brain. But he then refuted this reason because it could not explain why his recollections were so vivid and interactive.
• The next potential reason the neurosurgeon attributed to his experience is the generation of abnormal memory via an ancient visual pathway using the midbrain. This system is mostly applicable in the case of birds and has been hardly ever identified in us humans. It has been found rarely only in the case of cortically blind humans, because of the occipital cortex. It did not provide any clue regarding the high level of reality that he experienced. It also did not explain the audiovisual interleaving.

• The doctor also looked at the experience and tried to determine if it was a reboot occurrence. In this case, there may have been arbitrary unloading of unrelated memories because of older memories within the dysfunctioning neocortex. This could have occurred because the cortex restarted and entered consciousness after a long time where the entire system had failed due to his distributed meningitis. Because he can recollect his experience so vividly, this reason is utterly invalid.

Until today, Dr. Eben Alexander’s near-death experience is considered the most credible account of its kind in history. Considering his real-world medical-science background, it is believed that he actually had a real experience with something that was not of this earth. He also appeared on leading media including ABC News to share his experience.

Via Good Reads