Consciousness exists outside the body!

Over and over again people on the threshold of death report experiences outside the body. We have featured some accounts of such “Near Death Experiences“ (NDE) in this series. But do these accounts hold any scientific value? Michael Oort spoke on behalf of GrailWorld with the Dutch heart specialist Pim van Lommel (b. 1943), who, after his own comprehensive study of NDE, came to the far-reaching conclusion that consciousness exists outside the body.

GRAILWORLD: You are a cardiologist and have for many years investi- gated so-called Near-Death Experiences (NDE). What made you decide to go into this line of research?

VAN LOMMEL: I first came in contact with NDE in 1969. Back then, in the early days of so-called resuscitation, there was no name for this phe-nomenon. The first articles on car- diac massage and defibrillation (resuscitation by electric shock) came out in 1962. Coronary care units in hospitals were not set up until 1967, and only since then could patients in cardiac arrest be successfully resuscitated. Until then, all patients with a cardiac arrest died!

GRAILWORLD: We no longer know this today ...

VAN LOMMEL: I was just in my training, and a patient was successfully resuscitated. The nurse and I, as the doctor on duty, were very happy over this success. The patient, however, was disappointed, and told us of his experiences – light, tunnel, music and beautiful sceneries. I never forgot this description but made no further investigation, until in 1986 I read the book “Return from Tomorrow” by George Ritchie. It describes how as a medical student in 1943 he caught pneumonia and died. When he was declared dead, one student was so horrified that he persuaded a doctor to give him an adrenalin injection directly into the heart, which was most unusual at the time. More than nine minutes after being dead, George Ritchie awakened and later wrote a book about his NDE. He also spoke about it at the university, and one of his students was Raymond Moody, who was so excited that he began to collect such stories and in 1975 published his book “Life after Life”. Moody also coined the term “near-death experience”.

Having read these books, I began in 1986 to question patients systemati-cally. In two years I heard twelve NDE accounts from among 50 survivors of cardiac arrest. Since this was not at all possible, according to modern medical science, I started in 1988 with some colleagues a prospective study of NDE. Included were all those who had survived a cardiac arrest, and thus would have died had they not been resuscitated within the first five to ten minutes. Over a period of four years we interviewed 344 patients in 10 hospitals, with a view to finding an explanation for NDE.

GRAILWORLD: And were there further studies later?

VAN LOMMEL: We afterwards began a long-term study, in which patients were re-interviewed two and eight years respectively after their NDE. We compared the results with a group of patients who also survived a cardiac arrest but did not remember an NDE. Thus we were able to deter- mine whether the life changes which people with an NDE repeatedly assert are linked with the cardiac arrest or actually with the NDE. The result of this study was published in 2001 in the journal “The Lancet” and showed that the theories that had been advanced to explain NDE – lack of oxygen, fear of death, drugs, hallucinations or even pomposity – were totally untrue. Whether somebody was “gone” for 30 seconds or 3 minutes, whether he was afraid of death or not, whether he knew beforehand that there is or there is no NDE, all this is of no importance. Even faith, education, race or sex is irrelevant. Only one thing was remarkable: NDE occurred more often with younger patients and in cases where a patient had to be resuscitated several times. And people who had already had one NDE were more likely to experience another. We also established, that a patient needs to have a good memory in order to be able to relate the experience at all.

GRAILWORLD: Did these findings contradict any expectations you might have had as a doctor?

VAN LOMMEL: No, because I did not have any expectations. I could only determine that all the theories that existed to date were false and that modern medical science has no explanation for NDE. In today’s under-standing, consciousness is a product of the brain – in fact a hypothesis that has never been proved. But nearly all neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers assume the materialist model that consciousness is a by-product of a functional brain. If this concept were correct, there could be no NDE at the moment of unconsciousness, when the heart stops, breathing ceases, reflexes disappear and the brain fails. But it is astonishing that consciousness is all the more intensive and impressive during an NDE than during our “normal” waking state. There are many more memories, giving one the feeling of being connected with everything, and sometimes even giving rise to visions of the future. There are possibilities of perceiving beyond and outside the body, encounters with deceased friends or relatives, some with people whose death the one concerned is not even aware of. There is experience of an absolute, unconditional love and acceptance, and encounters with a light or a being. So there are many universal elements that have been mentioned in the history of mankind at all times and in all cultures, but we hear much more about them now because people nowadays survive cardiac arrests more often. Studies show that 4.2 % of people in the West have had an NDE.

GRAILWORLD: Can we say that there is now scientific evidence that human consciousness can exist outside the body?

VAN LOMMEL: Yes, I think that is the only thing we can verify. We cannot prove that it continues to exist after physical death. But I maintain that it is most likely, because we have demonstrated that people are very clearly conscious even with no more blood flowing in the brain. When the heart stops, there is immediate loss of consciousness, blood circulation to the brain is practically nil after 1 to 2 seconds. After about 15 seconds the cerebral cortex ceases to function, the body reflexes disappear, also brain- stem activity, and the person stops breathing. After five to ten minutes brain cells break down, as they are unable to store oxygen and energy. That is why resuscitation must succeed within minutes of a cardiac arrest.

GRAILWORLD: Materialists could argue that with these patients maybe there is some undetected brain activity somewhere ...

VAN LOMMEL: Such would-be undetectable activity is of no interest, because it is a question of an activity that – according to science – is needed to experience consciousness. This activity between the brainstem and cerebral cortex has never existed in a cardiac arrest. And paradoxi-cally, an even clearer awareness is present as a result of the discontinu-ation of brain activity!

GRAILWORLD: What is your view on the concept “soul”? Could we call the soul the seat of consciousness?

VAN LOMMEL: I deliberately do not use the terms “soul” and “spirit”, because everyone has his or her own idea about them, which can easily lead to confusion. I simply wish to point out that consciousness exists on different levels and that everything is interconnected.

GRAILWORLD: You write in your new book that believers often become even more religious after NDE, but usually no longer want to have anything to do with their church.

VAN LOMMEL: The institution “church” is an instrument of power, which prescribes what people should feel and think. People with NDE, however, have experienced something and react if what they hear or read does not match their inner knowledge.

GRAILWORLD: Is Pim van Lommel a religious person?

VAN LOMMEL: Yes, I think I am very religious, but I do not feel drawn to any specific denomination. NDEs have also shaped and changed my religious life. People with NDE have been my greatest teachers, and I am grateful that they were prepared to share their experiences with me.

GRAILWORLD: Going back to the near-death experiences. What would you sum up as the “common thread” in the dying process? And what is changed in people with NDE?

VAN LOMMEL: I think the main message is that each one dies the way he lived. If one cannot let go, then one will also have problems with letting go in dying.

Three things change for people with NDE. Firstly, all fears of death disappear; secondly, they look at life differently, because the experience that everything is interconnected leads to a strongly intensified self- awareness and raised compassion for others. Thirdly, their intuitive abilities improve. Sometimes these people develop clairvoyance, clairsentience, clairaudience, dream about future events and have visions. Most find it difficult to deal with the situation, because they perceive too many things that they would not like to pick up at all. In short, people with NDE acquire another ability to perceive, which is not bound to time and place. Often these individuals have healing abilities, for others but also for themselves. Coma patients, for example, often require several weeks until they can return home. This occurs much faster after an NDE — often incomprehensible to doctors. Heightened energy is probably also one reason why people after an NDE get involved in hospice work, in hospitals and residential homes, to assist others during the dying process.

GRAILWORLD: How do people in general cope with these changes?

VAN LOMMEL: Coming to terms with NDE can take 20 to 30 years, because the experience completely takes the person by surprise. In the first few years he often suffers depression or a kind of “homesickness”, and it is even possible that he feels things that he prefers not to perceive. If the person can find somebody to simply listen and accept the experience without ridicule, that is very helpful. GRAILWORLD: If consciousness exists outside the body, is it conceivable to you that it can later be attached to another body?

VAN LOMMEL: Basically, I assume that our day consciousness – what we have in speaking to each other like this – is a limited awareness which is part of a greater consciousness, as Plato already described it. People relate after an NDE that they miss the vastness, they all at once feel limited again. This – let us call it “non-local” – consciousness has always existed. All our experiences are anchored and stored in this greater consciousness. I also think that there are parts which can reunite with a body, but that is not Pim who then returns. But this is not a question I have examined scien- tifically. I do not know for certain, and therefore I also do not write a lot about it.

GRAILWORLD: Your last book was a great success in Holland. How many copies have been sold so far?

VAN LOMMEL: It is now in its tenth print edition and 84,000 copies have been sold. It became a number one non-fiction bestseller and has been among the top ten titles for the last six months.

It is apparently much recommended and given away a lot as a gift. Interest- ingly, I get a remarkably large number of reactions from philosophers and theologians. And it seems to provide a good means of counselling in bereavement, thus for people who have lost their partners and are looking for answers. Many share their stories with me because they trust that I will not turn them away. Unfortunately, death is still taboo in society. NDEs are not accepted in our Western culture, unlike, for example, in India, Africa or in certain indigenous populations.

The topic does not fit with our materialist conception of the world and science today plays the same role as the church did three or four centuries ago. What does not fit into the general picture is banished, debased, subjected to ridicule, withheld or disregarded.

GRAILWORLD: What questions are you interested in at the moment? What research projects are still on the agenda?

VAN LOMMEL: I believe I am on a track that has not yet come to an end. There are still many open questions, and by asking questions we make progress. For example, one very inter- esting question for me is the role of DNA in our consciousness. How do cells communicate with the heart? The activity of the brain can be measured in the brain, that of the heart in every cell! There are still so many things that I do not know! But that is a good feeling, because it keeps one on a modest keel. It is good to know that my book is holding its own and helping people. Being able to help is wonderful – I can do no more than that. I believe that thanatology (the science of death and dying) confirms scientifically the personal experiences and recognitions of many people. This is very important in Western culture, because intuitively we know or believe something – but we need a confirmation. Recognising one’s own experiences is certainly an important aspect also in reading my book.

Cardiologist and Death Reseacher PIM VAN LOMMEL (b. 1943) was a cardiologist at Rijnstate Hospital Arnheim from 1977 to 2003. Since then he has lectured worldwide on NDE and the connections between consciousness and the brain. His book “Consciousness Beyond Life“ was published in 2010 by Harper-Collins.