There are several ways in which near death experience for life after death is believed to have been found; starting with near death experience. More people have been declared clinically ‘dead’ subsequently being resurrected due to advances in modern technology. And through the descriptions of what had happened to the patients, while they were dead, were so similar, Dr Raymond Moody realised it must be more then coincidence. His research into near death experience demonstrated that there are common features to the experience. Some being; at the moment of death the person has a feeling of being outside the body and floating above it, there is heightened awareness and an absent of physical pain, there is a rapid movement down a tunnel, with a bright light at the end of it, at the end of the tunnel is a beautiful place, where the person feels the presence of a living being. All these points are what are used as evidence to life after death. People also clam that it is not only an experience but also a religious event.
If people have had earlier lives, then there is a belief that memories of these past lives ought to reside in the subconscious. For example; descriptions of past lives are given, which can be partly confirmed by historical facts. People, especially children, who claim memories of former lives, give these descriptions. Others appear to have regressed to earlier lives under hypnosis. Some of these memories have been investigated, and found to be accurate amounts of people and places from the past.
More evidence is shown through people claiming to have seen dead people. Dr Deepak Chopra pointed out that bodies are comprised of energy. They may appear to be solid, but the truth is that in reality they are just a pulse of energy. When an individual dies, the energy field may retain his or her image, and may be perceived as a ghost. He considered the ghost to be an individual’s consciousness, manifesting itself through the remaining energy.
Others argue that ghosts are apparently manifestations of dead people. There have been sightings at the same place, by different people, at different times, so people believe them not to be hallucinations.
Another piece of evident is spiritualism; it is the belief that it is possible to communicate with separate spirits. Many mediums (an individual who is believed to have the ability to receive messages from those in the spirit world and pass them on to the living) have passed on messages from departed spirits that contain accurate information, which was previously unknown to the medium. These sorts of messages give comfort to those who have lost someone, because they feel they are living on in another dimension, and one day they will join them. It is easy to see why people would say that this is a proof that there is life after death.
Lastly there is one other possible application of cryogenics, where which they freeze terminally ill patients, who are near death, to preserve their body. This is so when a medical cure is invented the frozen body is revived from this state of ‘suspended animation.’
- Explain and assess the claim that a belief in life after death is no more then wishful thinking.
There have been many problems that have been discussed with the claim that there is life after death. Many people firmly believe in some form of life after death, whichever one it is; however there are others who don’t believe and feel that people are just wishful thinkers. They just want to believe that there is something more then this life, and so come up with life after death. Many debates have happened and at the end there is still not sufficient evidence to say whether or not there is some other form of life after death. For example, the application of cryogenics, in which they freeze the patient, some people ask if there is a view to revive the person in the future, have they actually died? In the interim period between being frozen and then being revived, can the person be classed as dead? And also if the person is revived can this be classed as life after death, because technically they are still the same person in the same physical body. There is also speculation of whether or not the soul would return to the revived body. These are what none believers argue against the claim that there is life after death.
Also when it comes to spiritualism investigations have been carried out on some mediums and have proved that they are frauds, so all of it could in fact be a hoax and there is no such person who could actually communicate with the dead, it could all be one big lie. However others do appear to be genuine, and be able to demonstrate something extraordinary is happening when they pass on messages. This could be communication with departed spirits or it could be some form of telepathic access to the minds of those who are still living. There is evidence to support both points of view.
When it comes to sightings of dead people say that if a ghost is not a sighting of a dead person, then other explanations for the phenomenon include; hoaxes or elaborate tricks could make people think that they have seen a ghost. And also ghosts could be the result in mistaken identity, or the power of suggestion could lead to the mistaken belief that a ghost has been sighted.
Regression of past lives – not all investigators accept these ‘memories’ as evidence of reincarnation, and other reasons are put forward to explain why an individual possesses such knowledge. The question arises as to whether memories of a former life can be classes as ‘proof’ of earlier lives. For all we know the individual could be recalling memories of their childhood and just mistaking them for a past life. Or there could be a culture gene that passes down information about the lives of our ancestors. And there is that some memories may result from physiological problems, and have been manifested as memories of earlier lives when I fact they are just suppressed events of this life.
To conclude the idea that there is a life after death or whether it is all just wishful thinking is, at the present time, a balanced argument. There is no sufficient evidence to prove whether it is true or not true.
