Posthumous experience of people. Modern post-mortem experiences

If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then if
who has risen from the dead, they will not believe.
OK. XVI, 31

1. What do modern experiments prove?

Thus, we have seen that the "post-mortem" and "out-of-body" experiences now so vigorously discussed are completely different from the genuine experiences of the other world, which over the centuries have been found in the lives of charitable husbands and wives. Moreover, in recent years, modern experiments have gained such fame and become so fashionable, not because they are really new (there are whole anthologies of similar experiments in England and America in the 19th century), or because in our time they occur more often, but mainly because the public mind in the western world and especially in America is ready for it. This public interest seems to be part of a widespread reaction to 20th-century materialism and disbelief, a sign of a broader interest in religion. Here we ask the question: what could be the significance of this new "religious" interest?

But first, let us say once again what these experiments prove regarding the truth of religion. Most researchers seem to agree with Dr. Moody that these experiments do not support the usual Christian concept of heaven ("Life after death"); even the experiences of those who think they have seen the sky cannot bear comparison with the true visions of the sky in the past; even the experiences of hell are hints rather than any proof of the actual existence of hell.

Therefore, Dr. Kubler-Ross's assertion that modern studies of "post-mortem" experiences "will confirm what we have been taught for two thousand years - that there is life after death and that this will "help us know, not just believe" (foreword to "Life after death") should be recognized as exaggerated. In fact, these experiments can be said that they prove no more than that the human soul lives outside the body and that an immaterial reality exists, but they decisively do not give any information about the further state or existence of the soul after the first few minutes of death, or about the ultimate nature of the immaterial realm.From this point of view, modern experience is much less satisfactory than the information accumulated over the centuries in the lives of the saints and other Christian sources, from these latter sources we know much more - of course, provided that we trust those who gave information to the same extent that modern researchers trust those they interviewed.But even then our Faith, not knowledge, remains the main position with regard to the other world: we can know with certain certainty that there is "something" after death - but what exactly it is, we comprehend by faith, not by knowledge.

In addition, what seems to be known to Dr. Kubler-Ross and her associates in life after death on the basis of "post-mortem" experience is in clear contradiction with what Orthodox Christians believe on the basis of the teachings of Christ and also "post-mortem" experiences. described in Orthodox literature. All Christian "post-mortem" experience confirms the existence of Heaven, hell and judgment, the need for repentance, achievement and fear of the eternal death of the soul, and modern experiences, like the experiences of shamans, pagan initiates and mediums, seem to indicate that in the other world there is a "resort "with pleasant impressions, where there is no judgment, but only "growth", and that one should not be afraid of death, but only welcome it as a "friend" who introduces the pleasures of "life after death."

In previous chapters, we have already discussed the reason for the difference in these two experiences: the Christian experience is the true other world of heaven and hell, while the spiritual experience is only the aerial part of this world, the "astral plane" of fallen spirits. Modern experience clearly belongs to this category - but we could not know this if we did not accept (on faith) the Christian revelation about the nature of the other world. Similarly, if Dr. Kubler-Ross and other researchers accept (or sympathize with) the non-Christian interpretation of these experiences, it is not because modern experience proves it, but because the researchers themselves already have faith in its non-Christian interpretation.

The significance of modern experiences, therefore, lies in the fact that they become widely known just at the time when they can serve as "confirmation" of the non-Christian view of life after death; they are used as part of a non-Christian religious movement. Let us now look more closely at the nature of this movement.

2. Connection with the occult

More or less obvious connections with occult ideas and practices can be seen again and again in post-mortem researchers. We can here define the concept of "occult" (literally means that which is hidden) as referring to any communication of people with invisible spirits and forces forbidden by God's revelation (see Leviticus XIX, 31; XX, 6, etc.). This communication may be sought by the people themselves (as in séances), or it may be provoked by fallen spirits (when they spontaneously appear to people). The opposite of "occult" are the terms "spiritual" and "religious", which refer to God-allowed contacts with God and His Angels and saints: prayer - on the part of man, grace-filled manifestations of God, Angels and saints - on the other hand.

Here is an example of such an occult connection: Dr. Hans Holper (Beyond This Life, 1977) believes that the significance of "post-mortem" experiences is that they open people to a connection with the dead, and he believes that this results in such the same messages as the "dead" give at séances. Dr. Moody and many other modern scholars, as we have seen, look for explanations of modern experiences in the writings of Swedenborg and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Robert Krukel, who is perhaps the most serious researcher in this field, uses the messages of mediums as the main sources of information about the "other" world. Robert Monroe and others involved in "out of body" are pure practitioners of occult experimentation to the point of receiving guidance-advice from incorporeal beings encountered.

Perhaps the most characteristic of all these investigators is the woman who has become the leading advocate for the new attitude toward death that emerges from modern "post-mortem" experience, Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross.

No Christian, of course, can help but sympathize with the cause advocated by Dr. Kubler-Ross - a humane and responsible attitude towards death, in contrast to the cold, helpless and sometimes terrible attitude that often prevailed not only among hospital doctors and nurses, but even among the clergy, who are supposed to have the answer to the questions raised by the death factor itself. Since the publication of her book "On Death and Dying" (1969), the whole question of death has become much less taboo among medical professionals, helping to create an intellectual atmosphere conducive to discussion of what happens after death - a discussion that, in turn, was launched in 1975 with the publication of Dr. Moody's first book. It is no coincidence that so many of today's books on life after death are accompanied by prefaces, or at least commentaries, by Dr. Kubler-Ross.

There is no doubt that anyone who adheres to the traditional Christian view of life as a place of testing for eternity, and death as the entrance to eternal bliss or eternal torment, depending on faith and earthly life, will find her book discouraging. To treat the dying humanely, to help him prepare for death, without putting faith in Christ and the hope of salvation in the first place, when everything is already said and done, means to remain in the same dreary sphere of humanism into which unbelief has drawn modern humanity. The experience of death can be made more enjoyable than it usually is in modern hospitals, but if there is no knowledge of what comes after death, or that there is something after death, the job of people like Dr. Kubler-Ross is to give terminally ill harmless colored pills to at least feel like something is being done.

However, in the course of her research (although she does not mention it in her first book), Dr. Kubler-Ross did come across evidence that there is something after death. Although she has not yet published her own book on "post-mortem" experiences, she has made it clear in her numerous lectures and interviews that she has seen enough to know with certainty that there is life after death.

However, the main source of her knowledge is not the "post-mortem" experience of others, but her own, rather amazing experience with "spirits". Her first experience of this kind was in her office at the University of Chicago in 1967, when she was frustrated and contemplated giving up her recently begun study of death and dying. A woman entered her office and introduced herself as a sick woman who had died ten months ago. Kubler-Ross was skeptical about this, but, as she says, in the end the ghost convinced her: "She said that she knew about my intention to quit working with dying patients and that she had come to ask me not to refuse ... I held out my hand, to touch her. I was doing a reality check. I'm a scientist, a psychiatrist, and I didn't believe in that." She eventually convinced the ghost to write the note, and subsequent handwriting examination confirmed that it was the handwriting of the deceased patient. Dr. Kubler-Ross states that this incident occurred at a "crossroads where I could have made the wrong decision if I had not listened to her" (newspaper interview). The dead never appear so prosaically among the living; this otherworldly visitation, if genuine, could only be the manifestation of a fallen spirit in order to deceive its victim. And a magnificent fake of human handwriting for such a spirit is a simple thing.

Later, Dr. Kubler-Ross's interactions with the spirit world became much more intimate. In 1978, she told an enchanted audience of 2,200 in Ashland, Oregon, how she first came into contact with her "spirit guides." In a rather mysterious way, a spiritualist-type meeting was organized for her, apparently in southern California, where 75 people sang together to "increase the energy" needed to create this event. "No more than two minutes later, I saw a giant foot in front of me. A huge man was standing in front of me." This man told her that she should be a teacher and that she needed first-hand experience to give her courage and strength in her work. “After about half a minute, another person literally materialized about a centimeter from my feet ... I realized that this was my Guardian Angel. He called me Isabella and asked if I remember how 2000 years ago we worked together with Christ. Then a third "Angel" appeared to tell me more about "joy". My experience with these leaders has been a great experience of true unconditional love. And I just want to tell you that we are never alone. Each of us has a Guardian Angel, who is never more than two feet away from us. And we can call on them. They will help us."

At a medical conference in San Francisco in 1976, Dr. Kubler-Ross shared to an audience of 2,300 doctors, nurses, and other health professionals a "profound mystical experience" she had had the night before. (This experience is clearly the same as that recounted in Ashland.) "Last night I was visited by Salem, my spirit guide, and his two companions Anka and Willy. They were with us until three in the morning. We talked, laughed and sang together. They spoke, touched me with the most incredible love and unimaginable tenderness. It was the most important moment in my life." In the audience, "there was a moment's silence as she finished, and then everyone jumped to their feet as a body in appreciation. Most of the audience, mostly doctors and other health professionals, seemed moved to tears."

It is well known in occult circles that "guiding spirits" (who are, of course, the fallen spirits of the airy realm) do not show up so easily unless the person is sufficiently advanced in mediumistic receptivity. But perhaps even more surprising than Dr. Kubler-Ross's association with "familiar spirits" is the enthusiastic response to her story from an audience of not occultists and mediums but ordinary middle-class people and professionals. Undoubtedly, this is one of the religious signs of the times: people have become receptive to contacts with the world of spirits and are ready to accept the occult explanation of these contacts, which is contrary to Christian truth.

More recently, the scandals at Dr. Kubler-Ross' new southern California retreat, Shanti Nilaya, have received widespread publicity. According to these reports, many of the sessions at Shanti Nilaya are based on old-fashioned mediumistic séances, and a number of former participants have stated that these séances are a scam. It may be that there is more wishful thinking in Dr. Kubler-Ross's dealings with spirits than actuality; but this does not affect the doctrine of life after death, which she and those like her spread.

3. The Occult Teachings of Modern Researchers

The teachings of Dr. Kubler-Ross and other researchers of modern "post-mortem" experience on the question of life after death can be summarized on several points. It should be noted that Dr. Kubler-Ross formulates these points with the confidence of a person who believes that he has experience of direct communication with another world. But scientists like Dr. Moody, although their tone is more cautious and restrained, cannot but help to spread this teaching. Here is the doctrine of life after death, which is in the air at the end of the 20th century and seems natural to all those who profess it, who do not have a clear idea of ​​any other doctrine.

1. DEATH SHOULD NOT BE FEARED. Dr. Moody writes, "Almost everyone has told me in one form or another that they no longer fear death" ("Life After Death"). Dr. Kubler-Ross says: "Reported cases show that dying is painful, but death itself ... is a completely peaceful experience, free from pain and fear. Without exception, everyone speaks of a sense of calm and wholeness." Here one can see complete trust in one's own psychic experience, which characterizes those deceived by fallen spirits. There is nothing in modern "post-mortem" experiences that suggests that death itself, in its entirety, will be a mere repetition of them: this trust in psychic experience is part of the religious spirit that is now in the air, which creates a false, fatal sense of well-being for spiritual life. .

2. THERE WILL BE NO JUDGMENT NOR HELL. Based on his interviews, Dr. Moody reports that "in most cases the reward-punishment model in the afterlife is rejected even by many of those used to thinking in these terms. They often found to their own amazement that even when the luminous being their most vile and sinful deeds are clear, it reacted not with anger and irritation, but rather with understanding and even humor" ("Life after death"). Dr. Kubler-Ross remarks of those interviewed by her in a more doctrinaire tone: "Everyone has a sense of 'wholeness'. God does not condemn, unlike man." It never occurs to such investigators that the absence of judgment in "post-mortem" experiences could be a first, misleading impression, or that the first few minutes after death is not the place for judgment; they simply interpret these experiences in accordance with the religious spirit of the age, which does not want to believe in either judgment or hell.

3. DEATH IS NOT THE ONLY AND FINAL EXPERIENCE AS DESCRIBED IN ITS CHRISTIAN TEACHING, BUT IS A MOST PAINLESS TRANSITION TO A "HIGHER STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS".

Dr. Kubler-Ross defines it as follows: “Death is simply the shedding of the physical body, like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. It is a transition to a higher consciousness where you continue to perceive, understand, laugh, retain the ability to grow, and the only "What you lose is what you don't need anymore, and that's your physical body. It's like putting your winter coat away when spring comes... and that's what death is like." Below we will show how contradictory this is with true Christian teaching.

4. THE PURPOSE OF EARTH LIFE AND LIFE AFTER DEATH IS NOT ETERNAL SALVATION OF YOUR SOUL, BUT AN UNLIMITED PROCESS OF "GROWTH" IN "LOVE", "UNDERSTANDING" AND "SELF-REALIZATION".

Dr. Moody finds that "many seem to have returned with a new model and a new understanding of the other world - a vision that is characterized not by one-sided judgment, but rather by joint development towards the ultimate goal of self-realization. According to these new views, The development of the soul, especially the spiritual properties of love and knowledge, does not stop with death. Rather, it continues on the other side, perhaps eternally..." ("Life after life"). This occult view of life and death does not come from the fragmentary experiences now published, but rather from the occult philosophy that is in the air today.

5. "POSTER DEATH" AND "OUT OF BODY" EXPERIENCES ARE THESELF PREPARATIONS FOR LIFE AFTER DEATH.

The traditional Christian preparation for eternal life (faith, repentance, communion of the Holy Mysteries, spiritual struggle) is of little importance in comparison with the increased "love" and "understanding" inspired by "after-death" experiences; and in particular (as in the program recently developed by Kubler-Ross and Robert Monroe), it is possible to prepare terminally ill people in regards to "out of body" experiences, so that they "quickly understand what awaits them on the Other Side when they die" (Wheeler " Journey to the Other Side"). One interviewee, Dr. Moody, states categorically, "The reason I'm not afraid to die is because I know where I'll go when I leave this world, because I've already been there" ("Life After Life") . What a tragic and ill-founded optimism!

EACH OF THESE FIVE POINTS IS A PART OF A SPIRITUAL TEACHING DISCOVERED IN THE 19TH CENTURY BY THE "SPIRITS" THEMSELVES THROUGH MEDIUMS.

This doctrine is literally invented by demons for the sole and obvious purpose of undermining the traditional Christian doctrine of the afterlife and changing the whole view of mankind on religion. The occult philosophy that almost invariably accompanies and colors modern "post-mortem" experiences is simply the exotic Victorian spiritism sifted to a popular level, it is evidence that genuine Christian views are evaporating from the minds of the broad masses in the West. The "post-mortem" experience itself, one might say, has no connection with the occult philosophy that is propagated through it; he promotes this philosophy because the basic Christian safeguards and teachings that once protected people from such alien philosophy have now been largely eliminated and virtually any "otherworldly" experience will now be used to push through the occult. In the 19th century, only a few freethinkers and excommunicated people believed in occult philosophy. But now it floats so widely in the air that anyone who does not have a conscious philosophy of his own is quite "naturally" drawn to it.

4. "Mission" of modern "post-mortem" experiments

But, finally, why are "post-mortem" experiments so "in the air" and what is their meaning as part of the "zeitgeist"? The most obvious reason for the widespread discussion of these experiments today is the invention in recent years of new methods of resuscitation of the clinically dead, due to which such experiments have received more publicity than ever. This explanation certainly helps to understand the proliferation of reports of "post-mortem" experiences, but it is too superficial to account for the spiritual impact of these experiences on humanity and the change in the outlook on the afterlife that they contribute.

A deeper explanation can be found in the increasing openness and sensitivity of people to "spiritual" and "psychic" experiences in general, under the greatly increased influence of occult ideas - on the one hand, and on the other - due to the weakening of both humanistic materialism and the Christian faith. Humanity is once again approaching the acceptance of the possibility of contact with the other world.

Moreover, this other world seems to open itself to Humanity, WHICH IS LOOKING TO EXPERIENCE IT. The "occult explosion" of recent years has been caused by a spectacular increase in paranormal experiences of all kinds and has in turn contributed to their spread. At one end of the spectrum of these experiences are "post-mortem" experiences in which little or no effort of will is required to contact the other world; on the other end of this spectrum are modern witchcraft and satanism, where there is already a conscious attempt to communicate and even serve the forces of the other world, and somewhere between these two extremes there are a myriad of options for modern psychic experiences from Uri Geller's "spoon bending" and parapsychological out-of-body travel to contacts with UFO creatures and abductions by them. It is important to note that Christians had a large number of these paranormal experiences, and one type of these experiences (experiences "charismatic") is widely accepted as a genuinely Christian phenomenon. (An examination of the charismatic movement as a mediumistic phenomenon can be found in Chapter VII of Hieromonk Seraphim's book "Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future," published by St. Herman of Alaska Monastery, 1979. - Note per.) a striking indication of how lost Christian awareness of the occult experience is in our times.

One of the most eminent genuine mediums of our age, the late Arthur Ford—whose growing reverence on the part of "Christians" as well as unbelieving humanists is in itself a sign of the times—gave a clear hint of what the widespread dissemination of occult experiences and sensitivity to them: "The day of a professional medium is coming to an end. We have been useful as guinea pigs. With our help, scientists have learned something about the conditions necessary for it (communication with the spirit world) to take place." That is: occult experience, hitherto limited to a few "initiates", has now become available to thousands of ordinary people. Of course, this is mainly caused not by science, but by the increasing alienation of mankind from Christianity and its thirst for new "religious experiences". About 50-75 years ago, only mediums and occultists, standing almost outside of society, had contacts with "guiding spirits", cultivated "out of the body" or "spoke in tongues"; today these experiences have become relatively common and are accepted as commonplace at all levels of society.

This now famous increase in "otherworldly" experiences is undoubtedly one of the signs of the approaching end of the world. Having described in the "Conversations" various visions and experiences of the afterlife, St. Gregory the Great notes that "the spiritual world is approaching us, manifesting itself in visions and revelations... As the world approaches its end, this world of eternity is seen closer... The end of the world merges with the beginning of eternal life" (VI, 43 ).

St. Gregory, however, adds that through these visions and revelations (which are much more common in our times than in his) we all see the truths of the future age imperfectly, because the light is still "dull and pale, like the predawn light of the sun before sunrise." ". How true this is with respect to modern "post-mortem" experiments! Never before has mankind been given such stunningly vivid evidence - or at least hints - that there is another world, that life does not end and even has a clearer consciousness and life. For a person with a clear understanding of the Christian teaching about the state of the soul immediately after death, today's occult experiences can only confirm the existence and nature of the airy realm of fallen spirits.

But for the rest of mankind, including most of those who still call themselves Christians, modern experiences, instead of confirming the truths of Christianity, serve as a subtle guide to deception and false teaching, to the preparation of the coming kingdom of Antichrist. Indeed, even those who "raise from the dead" cannot persuade mankind to repent: If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then they will not believe even if someone were raised from the dead (Lk. XVI, 31). In the end, only those who are faithful to “Moses and the prophets,” that is, to the fullness of revealed truth, can understand the true meaning of modern experiences. What the rest of mankind learns from these experiences is not repentance and the nearness of God's judgment, but a strange, alluring new gospel of pleasant "otherworldly" experiences and the abolition of what God has established in order to awaken a person to the reality of the true other world, the world of heaven and hell, the fear of God.

Arthur Ford states quite candidly that the whole mission of mediums like himself is to "use all the special gifts given to me to eliminate forever from earthly minds the fear of passing to death." It is also the mission of Dr. Kubler-Ross, it is "the scientific conclusion of researchers like Dr. Moody: the "other world" is pleasant, and one should not be afraid to enter it. Two centuries ago, Emmanuel Swedenborg summed up the "spirituality" of those who believe in it : "I was allowed to enjoy not only the joys of the body and senses, like those living on earth, but also allowed to enjoy such delights and joys of life, which, I am sure, no one has ever experienced in the whole world, which are higher and more refined than anything that can be imagined. and what to believe. Believe me, if I knew that tomorrow the Lord would call me to Himself, I would call the musicians today to once again experience true fun in this world. When he predicted his landlady the date of his death, he was so glad, I was going to a holiday, to some kind of fun."

Now let us contrast this attitude with the genuine Christian attitude towards death throughout the ages. Here we will see how destructive it is for the soul not to have discrimination in relation to spiritual experiences, to discard the precautions of Christian teaching!

5. Christian attitude towards death

Although the occult teaching about the afterlife leads far away from the true nature of things, it begins with an undoubted Christian truth: the death of the body is not the end of human life, but only the beginning of a new state of the human personality, which continues to exist separately from the body. Death, which was not created by God, but was brought into creation by the sin of Adam in Paradise, is the most amazing form in which man encounters the fall of his nature. The fate of a person in eternity largely depends on how he relates to his own death and prepares for it.

The true Christian attitude towards death contains elements of both fear and uncertainty, precisely the emotions that occultism wants to abolish. However, in the Christian attitude there is nothing of the low fear that those who die without hope of eternal life may experience; a Christian with a peaceful conscience approaches death calmly and, by the grace of God, even with a certain certainty. Let us look at the Christian death of several great saints of Egyptian ascetics of the 5th century.

“When the time came for the death of the Monk Agathon, he remained for three days in deep attention to himself, not talking to anyone. The brethren asked him: “Abba Agathon, where are you?” - “I stand before the judgment of Christ,” he answered. The brethren said “Are you afraid, too, father?” He answered: “I tried according to my strength to keep the commandments of God, but I am a man, and how do I know whether my deeds were pleasing to God.” The brethren asked: “Are you not do you trust in your residence, which was in accordance with the will of God?" - "I can not hope," he answered, "because in the court of man and in the court of God." They wanted to ask him more, but he said to them: "Show me love, now don’t talk to me, because I’m not free.” And he died with joy. “We saw him having fun,” his disciples said, “as if he met and greeted dear friends” (Paterik of Skitsky; see Bishop Ignatius, vol. 3, p. 107).

Even the great saints who die under the clear signs of God's mercy maintain sober humility in regard to their salvation. “When the time came for the great Sisoy to die, his face lit up and he said to the fathers who were sitting with him: “Here comes Abba Anthony.” After a few silences, he said: “Behold the prophetic face has come.” "And again his face was especially lit up; he began to talk with someone. The elders begged him to tell with whom he was talking. He answered: "The angels have come to take me, but I beg them to leave me for a short time for repentance" The elders said to him: "Father, you do not need repentance." He answered them: "Truly, I do not know about myself whether I initiated repentance." And everyone knew that he was perfect. This is how a true Christian spoke and felt, despite who, during his life, raised the dead with a single word, and was filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And his face shone still more, shone like the sun. All were afraid. desert." With these words, he breathed his last. lightning, and the temple was filled with fragrance" (Paterik of Skitsky; see Bishop Ignatius, vol. 3, p. 110).

How different is this deep and sober Christian attitude from the superficial attitude of some of today's non-Orthodox Christians, who think that they are already saved and will not even be judged like all people, and therefore should not be afraid of anything at death. Such a position, very widespread among modern Protestants, is in fact not far removed from the occult idea that death should not be feared, because there is no eternal torment; no doubt, though unintentionally, she helped create such an attitude. Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria (XI century) in his Commentary on the Gospel wrote: "There are many who, seducing themselves with vain hopes, think of receiving the Kingdom of Heaven and, thinking highly of themselves, rank themselves among the elect ..." Many are called, then God calls many, or rather, all, but few are chosen, few are saved, worthy of being chosen by God.

The similarity between occult philosophy and the general Protestant view is perhaps the main reason why the attempts of some evangelical Protestants to criticize modern "post-mortem" experiences from the point of view of "biblical Christianity" have proved so unsuccessful. These critics themselves have lost so much of the traditional Christian teaching about the afterlife, the airy kingdom, the deeds and deceptions of demons, that their criticism is often vague and arbitrary, and their ability to distinguish in this area is no greater than that of secular researchers, which is why they are deceived " Christian" or "Biblical" experiences in the airy realm.

The real Christian attitude towards death is based on the recognition of the critical difference between this life and the next. Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov) of Moscow summed up the biblical and patristic teachings on this issue in the following words: “Death is the limit that limits the time of exploits for a person and the time of retribution begins, so that after death neither repentance nor correction of life is possible. This truth was expressed by Christ The Savior with His parable about the rich man and Lazarus, from which it is clear that both received their reward immediately after death, and the rich man, no matter how he suffered in hell, could not be freed from his sufferings through repentance "(Lk. XVI, 26).

Therefore, death is precisely the reality that awakens in a person the consciousness of the difference between this world and the world to come, inspires a life of repentance and purification, while we have precious time. When St. A certain brother asked Abba Dorotheus about himself, why did he fall into carelessness in his cell, the elder said to him: “Because you did not know either the expected peace or the future torment. For if you knew this for certain, then at least the cell yours was full of worms, so that you would have stood up to your very neck in them, you would have endured this without weakening" (Abba Dorotheos. Lesson 12: "On the fear of future torment").

In a similar way, already in modern times, St. Seraphim of Sarov taught: “If you knew what sweetness awaits the soul of the righteous in heaven, then you would decide in temporary life to endure sorrows, persecution and slander with thanksgiving. If this very cell of ours were full of worms and if these worms ate flesh our entire temporal life, it would be necessary to agree to this with every desire, so as not to be deprived of that heavenly joy that God has prepared for those who love Him.

The fearlessness of Protestants, as well as of the occultists, in the face of death is a direct consequence of their ignorance of what awaits them in the future life and what can be done now to prepare for it. For this reason, true experiences or visions of the afterlife are shocking to the core and (if a person has not led a zealous Christian life) change

Among all Christian writers and righteous people of our time, there is a man whose name is practically unknown in his homeland, but at the same time extremely popular among the Orthodox. Among the parishioners of our Church, there are hardly those who have not even heard of Father Seraphim (Rose).

Someone loves him, someone - not very much, but the fact that he has a number of interesting thoughts and reasonings can hardly be disputed. In September 1982, Father Seraphim rested from his earthly labors and surrendered his soul to the Lord, and therefore I would like to pay attention to some of his ideas. We will talk about the post-mortem experience of people who have experienced clinical death, or the near-death experience of people who are in the stage of agony. This topic is mysterious and difficult, nevertheless, let's try to understand it a little, based on the testimony of Father Seraphim (Rose).

The topic of post-mortem or near-death experiences did not interest physicians and psychologists at all for a long time. Genuine interest in it began to appear only at the end of the twentieth century. One of the brightest researchers of this topic is the American doctor Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. Father Seraphim sees the reason for this change in the development of technologies that make it possible to make an already stopped heart beat again. At the same time, the testimonies of many patients who have experienced clinical death are classified by rationalists and atheists as hallucinations or simply prefer not to notice them. It is very important to understand this experience in the context of the Christian worldview, since representatives of esotericism and the occult often speculate on it.

Father Seraphim argues that the problem of post-mortem experience cannot be solved without the original Christian concept as some starting point for thinking. As an example, he cites the studies of the American psychologist and physician Raymond Moody, who collected 150 such testimonies from different people (and he interviewed 50 of them personally) and became confused even in the possibility of giving at least some classification to the cases he describes.

Based on the evidence collected by Dr. Moody, Father Seraphim identifies several elements that are characteristic of the experience of post-mortem experience, and pays special attention to them, trying to characterize each of them from the point of view of Orthodox dogma.

The first and most incredible element is the "light being". Most witnesses of this phenomenon describe this phenomenon as a kind of light that is perceived by a person as a person, i.e., despite the absence of recognizable and precise outlines, this creature still has a recognizable appearance. As a rule, a "light creature" has a warm and attractive property, and attributing to him the features of a particular personality already depends on the past religious experience of the witness himself. Another feature of this creature is the property that it never makes any judgments about the life of the observer, but only gives him the opportunity to reflect on the meaning of his being and death.

The most common opinion of the witnesses themselves regarding this phenomenon is that they regard it as the appearance of an Angel who is full of understanding and love and inspires them with the idea of ​​responsibility for life.

It must be said that the iconographic tradition of the Orthodox Church depicts Angels in the form of young men in white clothes and with wings. However, if we turn to the evidence of angelic appearances in Holy Scripture, we will see that the description of angelic wings is not always present there: “When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in white clothes” (Mark 16:5); “Mary ... leaned into the tomb, and sees two angels sitting in a white robe” (John 20:11-12): “His appearance [Angel. - Approx. auth.], like lightning, and his clothes are white as snow” (Matt. 28:2-3).

If we turn to the patristic tradition, we also will not find a description of the presence of wings. For example, St. Gregory the Theologian, speaking about the nature of Angels, writes the following: “They are simple, spiritual, imbued with light, they do not originate from the flesh and do not acquire flesh, but remain as they were created. For them, in virginity, the path of God-likeness is prepared, leading to God, concordant with the intentions of the Immortal, Who wisely rules the helm of the great world. We can find similar descriptions in other fathers. Thus, St. Basil the Great asserts that the Angels do not have any cover similar to our flesh, and do not undergo changes; St. John of the Ladder says that they are incorporeal and "always receive glory to glory and mind to mind." The fact that Angels serve man is clearly stated to us by St. John Chrysostom: “God commanded that the higher powers serve the one who is on earth (man) - because of the dignity of the image with which man is clothed.”

Thus, without going into further reasoning, we can assert that the phenomena, actions and influence of the “bright being”, regardless of the religious experience of the witness himself, can be fully correlated with the Orthodox teaching about Angels. The apologetic meaning of this conclusion lies in the fact that it is Christian angelology that provides the necessary intellectual basis for explaining the evidence of the near-death phenomenon of a “light being”.

The next element of the post-mortem experience is meeting other people. Father Seraphim writes that there is not a single case when the human soul remained alone for a relatively long period of time. Some witnesses describe the experience of meeting their deceased relatives. It must be said that this phenomenon has long been known to science and is associated not only with the experience of clinical death, but also with the dying hours. “They,” Father Seraphim writes about scientific psychologists, “state that the phenomena of deceased relatives and friends accompany the dying person for about an hour, but almost always during the day before death.”

Regarding this element of the post-mortem or near-death experience, it must be said that there may be a physiological factor, such as the effect of hallucinogenic drugs, high body temperature and disease or damage to the brain. However, Father Seraphim notes an important observation of specialists in this field, namely the fact that the statistics tell us: "the most coherent and obvious otherworldly experiences take place in patients with the highest degree of contact with reality, they are less prone to hallucinations." Based on the described near-death experience, recorded by competent specialists, it should be noted that in this context, the conclusion about the reality of the afterlife seems to be the most rational and logical. But at the same time, the question remains open, are these spiritual beings really who they say they are?

To begin with, it should be noted that the evidence presented does not present any difficulty for the Christian worldview, since death is only the boundary between life and life, it is always accompanied by various kinds of visions and phenomena, regardless of the spiritual state of the dying person himself. It is here that Father Seraphim draws a clear differentiation between the so-called common experience of dying, which is of interest to the majority, and the grace-filled death of Orthodox Christians, who have striven for holiness throughout their earthly journey.

The first thing I would like to draw attention to is the fact that the representatives of Hinduism, in contrast to the witnesses of mortal experience from the USA, who are relatives, are visited by their Hindu gods.

Some doctors pointing to this observation say that the difference in vision is the result of subjective cultural and religious views. However, the inconsistency of such an opinion is based on the fact that the religious views of the dying person would affect his near-death experiences only if they are considered as hallucinations, and even with a certain exaltation of consciousness.
For a better clarification of this problem, let us turn to the work of Dr. Moody, already mentioned by us. In the preface to his book, Dr. Melvin Morse writes the following: "Many ... researchers have documented that near-death experiences are real, and not the product of hallucinations and a pathological disturbance of the brain." Moody himself confirms this statement with the following conclusions:
1. There is a great deal of similarity in the description of near-death experiences, despite the fact that these stories do not agree with the generally accepted ideas of our cultural environment about life after death.
2. All Dr. Moody's patients were not victims of psychosis, but were balanced and normal people who occupied a certain position in society, responsible positions.
3. In addition, all patients were able to distinguish dream from reality and perceived their experience as reality.
Thus, based on the above facts, we can make an intermediate conclusion that both the near-death experience of the Christian righteous and the same experience of other people (including Hindus) is an experience of experiencing non-material reality. It remains only to indicate the nature of certain phenomena.

Let's turn to the Holy Scriptures. Concerning the pagan gods, the Apostle Paul writes: “For although there are so-called gods, either in heaven or on earth, since there are many gods and many lords, yet we have one God the Father, from whom are all things, and we for Him and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” (1 Cor. 8:5-6). In another place, he clearly says who is really behind the appearance of a pagan deity: “The pagans, when offering sacrifices, offer to demons, and not to God. But I do not want you to be in fellowship with demons” (1 Cor. 10:20).

In the patristic writings on the question we have touched upon, we can find thoughts similar to the thoughts of the Apostle Paul. So, Abba Isaiah has the following reasoning: “When the soul comes out of the body, the passions that it acquired during earthly life serve as the reason for its enslavement to demons; virtues, if she has acquired them, serve as a defense against demons. Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) says that the Holy Scriptures teach us that after being separated from the body, the soul of a person clings either to the Angels of Light or to fallen angels, depending on the good or evil qualities acquired during earthly life.

Now it is necessary to say about the phenomenon of relatives. In this matter, Father Seraphim refers to the opinion of St. Gregory the Great, who in his Dialogues wrote that only after death can the righteous and sinners recognize each other. But the saints appear to the righteous during prayer, having the audacity to intercede for them before God. Father Seraphim points to this difference, arguing that it speaks of a different experience of death by the righteous and sinners, as well as a different fate after death. The fact is that the saints, as mentioned above, have the power to intercede for a person before God, while sinners, with the exception of special cases, do not come into contact with the living.

The indicated logic of reasoning shows that behind the phenomena of relatives, as well as behind the phenomena of pagan gods, there are unclean spirits that take the form that a person is best able to take, while the cultural and religious worldview positions of this or that witness play only a secondary role. Thus, in the question of the appearance of any “other” beings in the dying state, we see that the Christian experience of dying is fundamentally different from the non-Christian one in its integrity, spirituality and goodness, as well as from the appearance of a “bright being”, as discussed above.

The next and last element of the near-death experience Father Seraphim speaks about is the "out-of-body" experience. The term “out-of-body” itself indicates that a person feels himself outside his own body, he can see his own body from the side, the people around him, while not being able to enter into any physical contact with them. In addition, near-death witnesses speak of feelings of lightness, painlessness and warmth, as well as timelessness. “Time did not exist, it was not an element of an out-of-body experience,” said Dr. Moody about this experience.

Here again it is necessary to turn to the issue of hallucinations, since visual-auditory hallucinations are somewhat similar to out-of-body experiences. Dr. Moody writes that even if we emphasized the similarities and forgot about the differences in these phenomena, it would still not give a full explanation of out-of-body experiences by autoscopic hallucinations: “The whole point is that they have no explanation. There are many conflicting versions, but neurologists and psychiatrists cannot decide which theory to follow. Therefore, explaining the experiences of being “out of the body” by visual-auditory hallucinations, we replace one unknown with another.” Thus, we see that an attempt to explain the phenomenon we are considering from a materialistic point of view leads thought into a logical vicious circle, which gives rise to even more questions.

For the Christian worldview, there is nothing surprising in the fact that at the moment of death the soul is separated from the body and acquires an existence separate from it. On this occasion, Father Seraphim writes the following: “It is characteristic of our time of unbelief that people rarely use Christian concepts or realize that their soul is freed from the body and now experiences everything that happens; this new state in which they find themselves confuses them.”

The evidence of the out-of-body experience of the human soul described by Father Seraphim, Dr. Moody and other researchers refers to the first minutes or even moments after the death of a person. It must be said that in the early Christian literature we will not find any explanation for this phenomenon, since the holy fathers usually focused on those events that occurred later, and they relied on the information of Holy Scripture and previous ascetics. Evidence of the state of the soul in the first minutes after death became possible only with the development of appropriate medical technologies that make it possible to bring a person back to life after a cardiac arrest. Meanwhile, it is important to note that this issue does not contradict the Orthodox worldview in any way, moreover, in the absence of a rational explanation, it is the Christian dogma about the dual unity of human nature that provides the necessary intellectual basis for this phenomenon.

We do not dare to give any theological assessment of the considered phenomena. Despite the above facts of post-mortem and near-death experiences, we still know too little about it to intrude there with our crude mind. However, one obvious conclusion can be drawn: the Christian way of life allows you to prepare for the transition to the afterlife and not only not be afraid of death, but also find peace and bliss in it.

Archpriest Vladimir Dolgikh

Modern post-mortem experiences

There have been similar testimonies before, but the uproar that has risen in America in recent years has arisen from the observations of the psychotherapist Moody. After the release of his book, due to the interest that arose among the reading public, other books devoted to this topic appeared.

Moody collected the testimonies of one hundred and fifty people, but focused his research on fifty who had both near-death and post-mortem experiences.

Analysis and critical assessment of Moody's views was made in his book by Father Seraphim Rose. It must be said that Father Seraphim, an Orthodox person, considers Moody's views from the point of view of Orthodox holy fathers and draws the right conclusions. He is quite deep in his assessments and helps us to consider the issue of concern to us in a broader framework. In the presentation and analysis of post-mortem experience, we will use the book of Father Seraphim Rose.

Western scientists have noticed that some people at the time of their death, or when returning from death to life, told that they saw very strange and unusual things that could not be explained by classical medicine.

There are many reasons for such evidence.

The first reason is the approach of human existence to death. When the soul approaches its exit from the body, then it experiences a new state for itself. Death is truly a borderline event in a person's life. Then man is in the midst of biological life and the life of the soul without the body.

The second reason is the approach of good and evil spirits, as many saints say about this, whose testimonies we have already cited. If a person is under the influence of demons throughout his life, but also has the help of angels, all the more it happens at the hour when the soul is separated from the body.

And the third reason is the progress of medicine, which enables people to survive the state of clinical death for several hours and even days, as medicine itself states. It was noticed that the number of people who returned to life after clinical death increased, when artificial technical stimulation of the activity of a stopped heart was carried out.

So, to the already known two reasons, due to which the so-called post-mortem experiments arose, another reason was added related to the development of medicine. If we add diseases of the brain, as well as strong drugs that are given to seriously ill patients, then with their help one can interpret some of the hallucinations that occur in people at such hours. Consequently, all these states are heaped together, mixed, and dividing them into categories is not at all an easy task.

Father Seraphim Rose focuses his attention on some of the general points described by Moody from the words of eyewitnesses themselves. There are three common points.

First. This is the so-called "out-of-body experience". We are talking about what everyone felt as the exit of the soul from the body, and the soul continued to be aware of itself. The soul was in a world where she felt warmth and comfort, saw people around her dead body, but could not communicate with them. Indicative are the testimonies of two people who were recorded by Moody and cited in his book by Father Seraphim.

The first tells the following: “I saw how I was revived, it was really strange. I was not very high, as if on some kind of elevation, a little higher than them; just maybe looking over them. I tried to talk to them, but no one could hear me, no one would have heard me.”

The second story: “I could not touch anything, I could not communicate with anyone around me. This terrible feeling of loneliness, a feeling of complete isolation. I knew that I was completely alone, alone with myself.

Second a common moment in post-mortem experiences is "meeting with others". As Moody says, the soul experiences this loneliness for a short period of time because it soon begins to feel that it is meeting others. Not only after death, but also before death, she sees her dead relatives and friends. The following description is typical:

“The doctor lost hope of saving me and told my family that I was dying ... I realized that all these people were there, almost hovering in droves near the ceiling of the room. These were all people whom I knew in a past life, but who had died earlier. I got to know my grandmother and the girl I knew as a schoolboy, and many other relatives and friends ... It was a very happy event, and I felt that they came to protect and see me off.

Third the common point in these post-mortem experiences is the "presence of light" or "luminous being". All who have had such an experience describe the phenomenon of light, the brightness of which increased very quickly. Everyone recognized him as a person full of warmth and love. She attracted the deceased. Some claimed that it was Christ, others - that it was Angels. The following two pieces of evidence are characteristic.

First: “I heard that the doctors said that I was dead, and then I felt as if I had failed, even as if I were swimming ... Everything was black, except that in the distance I could see this light. It was a very, very bright light, but not too big at first. As I got closer to it, it got bigger.”

Second: “I was out of my body, that's for sure, because I could see my own body there on the operating table. My soul is out! At first I felt really bad about it, but then this really bright light appeared. At first it seemed to be a little dim, but then it turned into a huge meadow ... At first, when the light appeared, I was not sure what was happening, but then he asked, sort of asked: am I ready to die?

These are very telling examples. They prove that a person in those moments feels the existence of another world. Here we will not consider every experience in detail, but only want to emphasize that all assert the existence of something other than what we perceive with our senses and can analyze with reason.

Father Seraphim, citing these data, makes his critical remarks that such cases were in the experience of the Church. At the same time, he notices that there is some confusion going on. Here we will not go further.

Throughout my pastoral ministry, I have heard many people tell similar stories. Some of the testimonies were their own, which they experienced during a serious illness, others - the testimonies of their relatives, whom they looked after. While still a child, I witnessed one case when a woman, before her end, expelled her soul, sighed heavily and at the same time shook her fist at someone.

Such stories can be heard on the Holy Mountain. Many Athonites told me stories about the last moments of the life of both saints and sinful monks.

Let me give here a personal testimony that I bore from the illness of my elder, Metropolitan Kallinikos of Edessa. It directly relates to the topic we are discussing.

After a surgical operation to remove a tumor on the brain, a cerebral hemorrhage occurred, and the elder fell into a deep coma. The doctors who observed him said that he was on the verge between life and death. The heart worked, but breathing was carried out with the help of a special apparatus. If the air had not been supplied, he would have died. Everything was possible. He could have remained in this position on artificial respiration, he could have died, he could have come back to life. When a few days later he came to his senses, then with weeping and great tension he told the following terrible event.

He said that it was not a dream, but a reality. He was conscious and saw himself outside the body. His soul was watching the body that was on the bed, as well as all of us. And we were in great sorrow and were preparing for the funeral. He even pointed to that nurse, although there were many of them, who measured his body to order a coffin. He understood that his soul had left his body, and he said that at that hour he made a funeral litiya for himself.

He also had other experiences, but the one we cited is the most typical and relates directly to the topic we are considering. Naturally, I don't know if it was an out-of-body experience or a near-death experience. The fact is that it was an experience that went beyond the ordinary.

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A good friend of mine the other day, during a planned unremarkable surgical intervention, almost gave his soul to God. At the very beginning of the operation, under the influence of anesthesia, his heart suddenly stopped. Doctors had to start the engine manually - first with an indirect massage, then with an injection of adrenaline.

Fortunately, everything worked out. His heart stopped, stood for a while and started again. The operation proceeded smoothly and ended successfully. My friend would hardly have known at all that he already had one foot in the other world, if the doctor had not told him about it the next day on his rounds.

For the rest of the day, my friend was digesting and processing information. In the evening, when I went to visit him, we had a lively and extremely emotional conversation.

There was nothing there, you know! my friend exclaimed, waving his arms, “not a ray of light, not a dark corridor. I did not observe myself and the doctors bending over me from the side - neither from the side, nor from above. Neither demons nor angels met me. There was no Apostle Paul there (out of excitement, he apparently confused the functionals of Paul and Peter). And I didn’t meet my dead grandmother either .....

I must say that my friend and I sometimes have friendly disputes on religious and philosophical topics. And if I am inclined towards atheism, only sometimes passing over to the position of agnosticism and very rarely, in the form of an experiment, I try myself in the field of philosophical deism, then my friend rather gravitates towards various degrees of a religious-mystical worldview. It got to the point that he defended before me the healing effect of the pilgrimage to the Pochaev Lavra.

Stories of post-mortem religious experiences—in word of mouth, on television, and in related literature—have always aroused genuine interest in my friend. He learned to recognize the correct after-death visions from the false ones, and even made me study the book of Seraphim Rose. And then suddenly he himself was in a state of clinical death - and nothing. No right or wrong visions - no.

Absolutely nothing! Empty! Black! Well, it turns out, - his thought, knocked out of the usual schemes, rushed like a horse farther and farther - is it really there, in the next world, nothing but emptiness? No heaven, no hell, no apostle Paul? (This Paul was given to him!).

I saw that in such a state one could try to make him, if not an atheist, then at least an agnostic. But I didn't want that at all. Firstly, it is ugly to use a person's momentary weakness. Secondly, my friend is not only a smart and well-read person, but also extremely tactful, so it is a pleasure to argue with him. Thirdly, I could not ignore the fact that in his doubts and confusions he proceeds from the wrong premises.

Calm down and listen, - I told him, - people are trending a lot about clinical and biological death, about post-mortem experience .... There are many features and subtleties that we will omit for now. Roughly speaking, when the heart stops and breathing stops, this is not death in the strict sense of the word. The heart does not beat, the lungs do not breathe, but the tissues of the body are still alive. And only when irreversible changes in the brain occur from hypoxia, we can talk about real death - that death from which there is no return, unless, of course, a general resurrection ever comes.

As for the so-called "clinical death", here we are dealing with the magical influence of the word "death" on the minds of the townsfolk. Asystole, apnea, coma - yes, this is dying, but not yet death. Just not a very good name, confusing many.

There can't be two deaths - have you heard that? We have one laugh. What is called biological death - this is daring. Clinical death is still life, it is just a dying state.

Therefore, all cases of the so-called "post-mortem" experience, all these rays of light, dark corridors, deceased relatives, angels or even demons - all these are the experiences of not dead, but almost dead people. They still refer to our, material, and not to the heavenly world, even if we theoretically admit the existence of the latter. There is nothing surprising in the fact that the brain in an agonal state produces fantastic images.

Equally, it is not surprising that many people, including you, do not see anything at all in a state of clinical death. This is comparable to how many people do not see or remember dreams.

In general, the emptiness of your dying visions does not say anything either for or against the presence of the other world. You weren't in that world. You didn't die. And you don't have any post-mortem experience - just as no one living today has it.

Yeah, - my friend jumped up happily, - so you still admit that another world exists? So, somewhere in the depths of your soul, you also believe in God?...

And not at all .. - I began, but then our dispute went down many times trodden and studied roads.

And my friend is being discharged tomorrow.

Quote from Gaspard Noé's film "Entering the Void", cited as an epigraph to the scientific paper "DMT Simulates Near-Death Experience" by researchers from the Center for Psychiatry and the Neuroimaging Laboratory of Imperial College London and the Department of Consciousness and Neurology at the University of Liege

At the edge of the worlds

The scientific history of NDEs began in 1975, when an authoritative researcher first became interested in them: Raymond A. Moody, Jr. In Life After Death, he analyzes 50 cases of people who experienced a clinical blackout and looked into the “other world”. Since the time of Moody, the scale has changed somewhat: already in 2009, the largest anthology summarized the experience of more than 600 scientific articles and comments from more than 3,000 interviewees. What are they researching?

First, the structure of the visions themselves. As a rule, in the afterlife trip, patients encounter mystical insights about the divine nature of things, flights out of the body, an overview of their own lives, and other dope. And although such retrospective reports can be considered representative at a stretch, this does not prevent researchers from putting forward hypotheses about the causes of mysterious trips - this is second.

For example, it is assumed that an increase in the level of carbon dioxide in the blood is to blame.

In ordinary life, the structure of the “I”, the well-established system of automation and forecasting, does not allow us to break out of the limits of the evolutionarily established standard for perceiving the world and ourselves in it. But in conditions of lack of oxygen, the body does not agree with the brain and does not carry out the necessary commands.

Against the background of loss of control, the brain, of course, begins to “panic” - it brings down chemical and electrical shocks wherever it hits. In particular, on the TPJ - the temporo-parietal node, which is responsible for the synchronization of body systems and our awareness of ourselves (if you stimulate TPJ, you will get an OBE - out-of-body experience) and the temporal lobe. It is also called the "zone of God", as it is responsible for experiencing mystical events and insight in the spirit of Dostoevsky's epileptic parishes. So - from different functional areas along the thread - NDE is formed.

There are two mystical snags in the scientific explanations of the NDE. The first British psychologist Susan Blackmore, a great skeptic of spiritualism and the owner of her own out-of-body experience, who studied NDE for a long time, describes it like this:

If NDE is just a cascade of neurotransmitters, a half-sleep or brain loss of self-control, then why do different people develop these experiences into a narrative of transformation and renewal?

Indeed, most people who have dealt with NDE describe it as a turning point in their lives. As meticulous researchers add, a turn for the better - increased empathy, concern for the environment, increased self-esteem, reduced fear of death. Only occasionally do NDEs turn into a brutal bad trip.

In addition, there is repetition. After analyzing one and a half hundred descriptions of NDE, scientists found that at least every 4th flies in a dark tunnel towards appeasement and dissolution of the ego, which for 69% of people are visualized in the form of bright light. 64% see spirits and familiar / unfamiliar people performing strictly assigned functions.

Interestingly, NDE in its classic form (with visual images)are going through even people who are blind from birth.

More interestingly, the NDE narrative is suspiciously strongly reminiscent of the cartography of the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thedol), an ancient "instruction for death" and a transitional state of consciousness.

In search of answers to puzzling questions, one can delve into the writings of Jung and the manuscripts of Tibetan Buddhism, or simply brush it off: one in four is not so much, and the cascade of neurotransmitters and accompanying processes may well cause a sequence of hallucinations, perceived as a "transformative" experience.

Another mystical ticklish moment is related to the on/off of the brain during NDE. One of those who made a stir in this matter was the famous neurosurgeon Eben Alexander, who taught and practiced, in particular, at Harvard Medical School. In many ways, it was he, an authoritative and sane scientist, who finally transferred the study of afterlife tunnels from the area of ​​interest of TV-3 scriptwriters to the scientific plane.

In the book "Paradise Proof» Alexander analyzes his own near-death experience and medical reports. The scientist comes to the conclusion that at the key moment his brain was not active - which means that the journey to the other world was made by the consciousness that had detached itself from the heavy body.

In 2013, an investigation by journalists got to the bottom of this claim, and many considered it debunked. In contrast to another telling case: the near-death experience of Pam Reynolds, who, with her heart disabled, managed to fly over the operating room, spy on a surgeon at work, and eavesdrop on the doctors setting up the Hotel California (“You can check out whenever you want, but you can never leave”). Many consider it farfetched, citing the "anesthesia awareness" phenomenon and potential EEG imperfections, but not all. Analytical philosophers who advocate the immateriality of consciousness would say: yes, everything is logical.

In short, with scientific evidence that consciousness can function after the death of the body, humanity is not very good. This means that we are talking only about the maximum approach to the border of the worlds, characterized by specific effects, sensations and narrative, common to a surprisingly large number of people. And this, in turn, means that NDE can be reproduced without driving the subjects up to their earlobes into Styx.

Reality is better

Call Bardo-Thedol-experience, driving the brain into a state of total crisis with the help of sensors and electrodes, the researchers have not yet decided. But the back door of the NDE still sneaks into the laboratory, which is perfectly illustrated by the experimental programs of psychedelic therapy for terminally ill patients.

Patients who have experienced NDE before (for example, at the time of cardiac arrest during surgery),reported that the course of psychedelics caused them very similar experiences.

In our epigraph placebo study (DMT models near-death experience), the relationship between psychedelics and near-death experiences is more specifically pointed out: "After the administration of N,N-dimethyltryptamine, the phenomenological features associated with NDE are significantly enhanced."

Raymond Moody, whom we mentioned earlier, also writes about this happy coincidence. And also - the followers of the "NDE pharmacological hypothesis", who believe that DMT (which our brain usually produces in microdoses) is especially intensively released during the process of dying. The hypothesis has been criticized on the basis that stress and the proximity of death can themselves lead to similar states of consciousness (see theories above).

According to Anthony Bosis, a New York University psychiatrist who has studied the effects of psilocybins on cancer patients, a "narrative of transformation and renewal" similar to the NDE experience is found here as well: days after the session. His words are confirmed by a number of studies.

While psychedelics In the scientific world, more and more authority, scientists find another way to reconstruct dying - with the help of virtual reality.

It turns out 50/50. On the one hand, VR is great at manipulating the brain: we can integrate into the bodies of the opposite sex, purple or even Barbie dolls and not feel the catch. VR cheats our basic settings like the "body map" - a model that the brain builds for the convenience of our life in space. It is so agile that it can be "reconfigured" even with the rubber arm trick when you think the fake limb is your own. Not surprisingly, VR easily recreates the illusion of leaving the body - one of the essential features of NDE.

What is important: when someone from outside threatens a rubber hand, the cerebral cortex experiences the same anxiety as if the hand was really yours. The same applies to hallucinations - if you look at the brain mapping of someone who hears voices, the picture will be exactly the same as if the sound really came from outside.

Our life experience is a rather virtual thing. This is why VR, even in its infancy, is causing such amazing changes in those who have experienced it: adults after session in the body of a 4-year-old child, they perceive the world as slightly enlarged, and themselves as younger.

In whites who have been in the body of blacks, the subconscious tendency to prefer one race to another decreases. In a word, everything that you experience in VR, you experience in reality. What about death?

Attempts to immerse someone in a full-fledged afterlife trip are still reminiscent of sketches for video games. For example, they look like this: 15 participants in the experiment live on an idealized virtual island in virtual bodies for six sessions. They go through a mini-cycle of growing up and aging, making contact with each other, watching the death of their companions, and in the last session, their own. Moreover, the researchers recreate all the external signs of the classic NDE (exit from the body, an overview of virtual life, a tunnel leading to white light). After "death", the participants watch the continuation of "The Last Hero" and their own funeral with the erection of a monument from an external screen.

However, even such a comical attempt to live life and survive death gives pleasant results. Not comparable to the real NDE in terms of intensity, but close in meaning. All participants in the experiment noted a change in their attitude to the world: the development of empathy, an increase in interest in global problems compared to mortal-material ones, and a decrease in the fear of death. The control group did not report such insights.

Take a look at her

The famous anthropologist Anthony Becker would say that the power of such experiences lies in the acceptance of the fact of one's own finiteness. In Denial of Death, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1974 and is based on the writings of Kierkegaard and Otto Rank, he writes that a significant part of our entire noisy civilization (if not all) is built on overcoming the fear of death and anxiety for this check. Becker also suggests "practicing death" - reflecting on the inevitable end as close as possible to it (the sages have been talking about this since ancient times).

The mandate memento mori for modern man is doubly relevant, since the idea of ​​death is rapidly disappearing from our existence. A typical resident of Washington, Berlin or Moscow does not see active dying around him, as, for example, a local from Varanasi , calmly washing clothes in the Ganges River next to the corpses that had just been “buried” in it.

A more benign picture of dying is also inaccessible to modern man: for example, according to statistics, only 25% of Americans die at home, most in nursing homes or other institutions. We cannot even wholeheartedly partake of the rite of passage that the ancients used for existential adaptation.

According to the terror-management theory, or TMT, which arose on the basis of Becker's ideas, even when walking in a cemetery or learning about the illness of loved ones, we subconsciously tend to put up protective psychic armor and block out thoughts about death.

DTA theory (death thought accessibility) -says : we tend to think about death only in terms of a threat (to us or our cultural values ​​or worldview).

In fencing off death, its virtualization in the media, cinema, and photography also helps us. What Žižek calls the "plurality of deaths" is the difference between the biologo-organic and the symbolic body, the one-time physiological death and the multiple symbolic one. As sociologist Katherine Exley observes, the regular broadcast of death leads to alienation.

How bad this is is well illustrated by a study on the fight against terrorism, in which 22 municipal judges from the state of Arizona participated. They were asked to set the amount of bail, under which it was planned to release "stool" prostitutes - participants in the experiment. Some of the judges preliminarily completed a survey that included items such as “describe the emotions that the thought of your own death arouses in you”, “describe as specifically as possible what you think will happen to you when you physically die.” Judges who completed the survey gave bail 9 times higher than those who were not offered it.

The researchers concluded that thoughts about their mortality forced the judges to turn to the values ​​they had developed and make more correct, from their point of view, moral choice.

When a similar experiment was conducted with students, the logic was confirmed: those who considered prostitution "morally reprehensible" put up a more severe bail, and vice versa. Experiments in which participants are asked to write about their own death for 6 days show exactly the same thing: reasoning about one's own finitude and openness to the experience of death help to move on to an awareness of inner values.

However, one should not overestimate simple reminders of death - in the TMT meta-review it is noted that the effect of them is quite comparable to thinking about any other phenomenon that threatens meaning (for example, watching a surreal movie). As the German philosopher Dolph Sternberger writes, the absurdity and nihilism of death cannot be overcome by intellectualization alone.

One of the main reasons for the transforming power of near-death experiences, pulling down from a person his evolutionary settings for perceiving the world and himself, is their ability to radically change the attitude towards death.

However, for the sake of this, it’s still not worth sticking the plug into the outlet, because soon psychedelic therapy will finally run in and VR will become completely adult.