Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience by Pim van Lommel Page A
Authors: Pim van Lommel
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pleasure in classical or soothing music and are less tolerant of noise. NDErs attach less importance to status, money, and material possessions and distance themselves from the competitive elements in contemporary society.
No More Fear of Death and a Belief in Life After Death
The experience of feeling utterly unchanged as a person after temporarily leaving the sick or lifeless body teaches people that death is something entirely different than they previously thought.
Dead turned out to be not dead.
In most cases this realization greatly reduces the fear of death and bolsters people’s belief in life after death.
I’m no longer afraid of death. I see the experience as a gift. Now I know there’s more after death. I’m grateful. I feel that I have to talk about it to help others, to reassure them if they’re afraid of death. I feel privileged.
For figures on the reduced fear of death and the increased belief in an afterlife, see the table “A Different View of Death After an NDE.” The table lists people’s attitudes prior to their NDE alongside the changes that occurred at least twenty years after the NDE. Those who believed in life after death before their NDE have become absolutely certain after their experience.
A Different View of Death After an NDE
No fear of death : Sutherland 11
Before NDE (percent): 16
After NDE (percent): 98
No fear of death : Grey 12
Before NDE (percent): 37
After NDE (percent): 100
No fear of death : Opdebeeck 13
Before NDE (percent): 55
After NDE (percent): 100
No fear of death : Belief in life after death Sutherland
Before NDE (percent): 38
After NDE (percent): 100
No fear of death : Grey
Before NDE (percent): 24
After NDE (percent): 76
No fear of death : Ring 14
Before NDE (percent): (number?)
After NDE (percent): 86
No fear of death : Opdebeeck
Before NDE (percent): 25
After NDE (percent): 96
No fear of death : Musgrave 15
Before NDE (percent): 22
After NDE (percent): 92
The fear of death decreases even further over the years after the NDE (see the table “Life Changes After a Cardiac Arrest” on Chapter Three). The loss of the fear of death also changes people’s outlook on life; some aspects of life become important while others become completely irrelevant. After an NDE, people only want to spend time and energy on things of lasting value. Almost all ephemeral and material things, such as a lot of money, a big house, or an expensive car, become less important. People also identify much less with their own body, believing it to be “merely” the physical, material aspect of somebody’s personality. “I can live without my body, but apparently my body cannot live without me.”
The effect of the loss of the fear of death can be illustrated with the story of an eighty-two-year-old patient with serious heart failure who had been admitted to the cardiac ward where I worked as a cardiologist. This man was terminally ill, as his shortness of breath no longer responded to medication. Normally doctors and nurses give a wide berth to a dying patient’s room; having finished treatment, they can do nothing more. But this was a completely different story. More than ten years earlier, this patient had suffered a massive myocardial infarction with cardiac arrest for which he had been successfully resuscitated. During his cardiac arrest he had experienced an extremely deep NDE and had lost his fear of death. The man knew he was dying. Yet there he was in bed, looking radiant despite his difficult breathing. Beautiful classical music could be heard at all times, and from morning till night his room was filled with nursing staff, family, and fellow patients, all of whom he tried to help. He was attentive and in good spirits, and it was a real joy to be in his presence. And this is exactly how he went: good-natured, cheerful, and supportive of those around him. After he died he lay in bed with a big smile on his face, and
No More Fear of Death and a Belief in Life After Death
The experience of feeling utterly unchanged as a person after temporarily leaving the sick or lifeless body teaches people that death is something entirely different than they previously thought.
Dead turned out to be not dead.
In most cases this realization greatly reduces the fear of death and bolsters people’s belief in life after death.
I’m no longer afraid of death. I see the experience as a gift. Now I know there’s more after death. I’m grateful. I feel that I have to talk about it to help others, to reassure them if they’re afraid of death. I feel privileged.
For figures on the reduced fear of death and the increased belief in an afterlife, see the table “A Different View of Death After an NDE.” The table lists people’s attitudes prior to their NDE alongside the changes that occurred at least twenty years after the NDE. Those who believed in life after death before their NDE have become absolutely certain after their experience.
A Different View of Death After an NDE
No fear of death : Sutherland 11
Before NDE (percent): 16
After NDE (percent): 98
No fear of death : Grey 12
Before NDE (percent): 37
After NDE (percent): 100
No fear of death : Opdebeeck 13
Before NDE (percent): 55
After NDE (percent): 100
No fear of death : Belief in life after death Sutherland
Before NDE (percent): 38
After NDE (percent): 100
No fear of death : Grey
Before NDE (percent): 24
After NDE (percent): 76
No fear of death : Ring 14
Before NDE (percent): (number?)
After NDE (percent): 86
No fear of death : Opdebeeck
Before NDE (percent): 25
After NDE (percent): 96
No fear of death : Musgrave 15
Before NDE (percent): 22
After NDE (percent): 92
The fear of death decreases even further over the years after the NDE (see the table “Life Changes After a Cardiac Arrest” on Chapter Three). The loss of the fear of death also changes people’s outlook on life; some aspects of life become important while others become completely irrelevant. After an NDE, people only want to spend time and energy on things of lasting value. Almost all ephemeral and material things, such as a lot of money, a big house, or an expensive car, become less important. People also identify much less with their own body, believing it to be “merely” the physical, material aspect of somebody’s personality. “I can live without my body, but apparently my body cannot live without me.”
The effect of the loss of the fear of death can be illustrated with the story of an eighty-two-year-old patient with serious heart failure who had been admitted to the cardiac ward where I worked as a cardiologist. This man was terminally ill, as his shortness of breath no longer responded to medication. Normally doctors and nurses give a wide berth to a dying patient’s room; having finished treatment, they can do nothing more. But this was a completely different story. More than ten years earlier, this patient had suffered a massive myocardial infarction with cardiac arrest for which he had been successfully resuscitated. During his cardiac arrest he had experienced an extremely deep NDE and had lost his fear of death. The man knew he was dying. Yet there he was in bed, looking radiant despite his difficult breathing. Beautiful classical music could be heard at all times, and from morning till night his room was filled with nursing staff, family, and fellow patients, all of whom he tried to help. He was attentive and in good spirits, and it was a real joy to be in his presence. And this is exactly how he went: good-natured, cheerful, and supportive of those around him. After he died he lay in bed with a big smile on his face, and
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