- Harvard educated Eben Alexander did not believe patients tales of out-of body experiences
- But now describes a place filled with butterflies that he experienced while in a coma
- Describes 'a sound, huge and booming like a glorious chant, came down from above,'
- Says he was accompanied by a young woman
A skeptical scientist who had spent his career studying the mechanics of the brain and dismissing patient tales of journeys to heavenly realms has revealed his own encounter with the afterlife during a near death experience.
Dr Eben
Alexander spent 15 years as an academic neurosurgeon at Harvard but he was
struck with a nearly fatal bout of bacterial meningitis in 2008 and had no
brain activity when he lay comatose for seven days at a Virginia hospital.
Though he
was unconscious and unresponsive during that period, he is now describing a
'hyper-vivid and completely coherent odyssey' to a place beyond filled with
butterflies and resounding music that has shaken his scientific viewpoint on
human consciousness.
He says he
entered a place filled with clouds and the sound of chanting, and was met by a
beautiful blue-eyed woman.
Scroll down
for video.
 |
| Paradigm shift: Dr Eben Alexander (left) had to rethink his views after he encountered the afterlife during a near death experience in 2008, which he has detailed in his forthcoming book Proof of Heaven |
Dr
Alexander describes his paradigm shift from focusing solely on the scientific
make up of the brain to considering the spiritual realm of the mind, in a
deeply reflective essay in Newsweek in advance of the release of his book Proof
of Heaven.
'As a
neurosurgeon, I did not believe in the phenomenon of near-death experiences,'
he writes in his article, explaining how he had previously relied on 'good
scientific explanations for the heavenly out-of-body journeys described by
those who narrowly escaped death.'
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Though he
considered himself a nominal Christian he said he lacked the faith to believe
in eternal life.
When his
patients would tell tales of going to heaven during near death experiences, he
relied on 'current medical understanding of the brain and mind' and disregarded
them as wishful thinking.
But after
he became the patient, he says he 'experienced something so profound that it
gave me a scientific reason to believe in consciousness after death.'
The
58-year-old has an impressive pedigree. His ancestors were well regarded
politicians and prominent fixtures in society in Tennessee. His father was
Chief of Neurosurgery at Wake Forest University from 1948 to 1978.
The younger
Alexander graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and received his bachelor's
degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1975. He earned
his medical degree from Duke in 1980.
He spent 15 years teaching neurology at Harvard Medical School and the University of Virginia - lecturing on and researching brain mapping, the treatment of brain tumors and trying to understand cognition.
 |
| Skeptic: Dr Eben Alexander was dismissive when patients would describe journeys to heaven after near death experiences ... until the scientist experienced the pinked-tinted world of heaven for himself |
He spent 15 years teaching neurology at Harvard Medical School and the University of Virginia - lecturing on and researching brain mapping, the treatment of brain tumors and trying to understand cognition.
In 2008,
the father-of-two was in 'good health and good shape,' preparing to embark on a
hike with his son of a volcano in South America, he said in a July interview
about the ordeal with Skeptiko.
Little did
he know that he would soon become a patient at the very hospital where he
taught.
 |
| Brush with death: Dr Eben Alexander spent seven days in a coma in 2008 and had little brain activity but he has vivid memories of his visit into the great unknown (stock photo) |
The
doctor's life was nearly cut short on November 10, 2008, when he awoke at
4:30am to get ready to go to work at the Lynchburg General Hospital in
Virginia, where he worked as a neurosurgeon.
All of a
sudden, he developed a severe pain in his back and within 15 minutes he was
paralyzed in anguish and could barely even move.
His wife,
Holley, rushed in to assist him and began to rub his back to relieve the
tension but his condition worsened.
Before he
began convulsing in a seizure, his last words to his wife were, 'Don't call
911,' and he lost consciousness and has no memory of what happened for an
entire week.
Fortunately
for him, his wife disregarded his advice and he was rushed to an area hospital
and was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.
 |
| Heaven: The doctor says the place he visited was filled with butterflies, music and angel-like creatures more glorious than humans could ever imagine |
'My entire
cortex - the part of the brain that controls thought and emotion and that in
essence makes us human - had shut down,' he writes in his essay.
'Doctors
determined that I had somehow contracted a very rare bacterial meningitis that
mostly attacks newborns. E. coli bacteria had penetrated my cerebrospinal fluid
and were eating my brain,' he added.
He was placed
on a ventilator at the intensive care unit and for six days he was treated with
triple antibiotics to fight the bacteria but his brain had little functionality
and he was unresponsive, leaving doctors to believe he would not recover.
As his
family prepared for the worst, on the seventh day he suddenly opened his eyes.
His
breathing tube was removed and he miraculously told doctors, 'Thank you.'
He suffered from amnesia and could not remember his life at all prior to his illness and remained in a haze for the first few days after he came out of the coma.
 |
| No activity: The neurosurgeon said during the seven days he was in a coma in 2008, his cerebral cortex, that controls thought and emotion, shut down |
He suffered from amnesia and could not remember his life at all prior to his illness and remained in a haze for the first few days after he came out of the coma.
As he
recovered though, he began to recall vivid memories of a magical mental
experience during his time in the coma.
'There is
no scientific explanation for the fact that while my body lay in coma, my mind
- my conscious, inner self - was alive and well. While the neurons of my cortex
were stunned to complete inactivity by the bacteria that had attacked them, my
brain-free consciousness journeyed to another, larger dimension of the
universe: a dimension I’d never dreamed existed and which the old, pre-coma me
would have been more than happy to explain was a simple impossibility,' he
writes.
He says he
entered a 'place of clouds - big, puffy and pink-white,' filled with
butterflies and angel-like creatures that were 'simply different from anything
I have known on this planet. They were more advanced. Higher forms.'
In this heavenly realm, he says he heard 'a sound, huge and booming like a glorious chant, came down from above,' providing him with a sense of joy and awe.
 |
| I believe, help thou my unbelief: Dr Alexander says he was a nominal Christian before his brush with death but has experienced a spiritual reawakening |
In this heavenly realm, he says he heard 'a sound, huge and booming like a glorious chant, came down from above,' providing him with a sense of joy and awe.
A beautiful
young woman accompanied him during his stay, 'she was young, and I remember
what she looked like in complete detail. She had high cheekbones and deep-blue
eyes. Golden brown tresses framed her lovely face.'
Alexander
admits his description might sound like something straight out of Hollywood,
but to skeptics he says he has a clear sense that is was indeed real and 'not
some fantasy, passing and insubstantial.'
After his
remarkable experience in 2008, Alexander says the impact has been both on the
professional and the spiritual.
Now the
scientist has committed his energy to 'investigating the true nature of
consciousness and making the fact that we are more, much more, than our physical
brains as clear as I can, both to my fellow scientists and to people at large.'
But the
self-described Christian-in-name-only, now says his experience with heaven has
deepened his understanding of God and strengthened his faith .
'At the
very heart of my journey [is this], that we are loved and accepted
unconditionally by a God even more grand and unfathomably glorious than the one
I’d learned,' he concludes.
Watch video
of Dr Eben Alexander describes his near death experience.
Related Articles:
The Afterlife Investigations - Movie Feature - The Scole Experiments
"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator,Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)
Related Articles:
The Afterlife Investigations - Movie Feature - The Scole Experiments
"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator,Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)
“… When a Human almost dies, they get close to the veil, very close. They are ever so close to the creator's energy and just barely touched by it. When their heart was stopping and their breathing was almost gone, before they were brought back to life with science, they got to touch the hand of God for just an instant. What they saw was magnificent! The energy before them was filled with love and light, filled with family, filled with beauty. There was no strife there. There was no punishment there or even the hint of it. And when they came back from that experience, listen to what they told you. It changed their lives, didn't it? Listen to each one talk about it, for they continued to say, "There is nothing to fear and death is something you experience as a normal transition." Blessed is the Human Being who experiences both death and birth and has the wisdom to report, "Oh, it's uncomfortable, but I'll get through it, because I've done it before." The person who has experienced a near-death experience is no longer afraid to die! What does that tell you? They have seen what is there and they embrace it! …”
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