A theory that human awareness survives after death has been advanced by several respected researchers who claim that physical death does not mean the end of human consciousness. These scientists claim that people have souls that leave the body after their hosts' bodies die.
To some people, it might seem like superstition or tales of the paranormal, however, the concept that human awareness lives on after death has now been proposed by scientists. A British researcher at the cutting edge of this remarkable theory now believes that human beings have souls which are separated from the body at the time of death and continue to exist after the body has died.
Despite decades of research, scientists are still not exactly sure what consciousness is. However, physicist Sir Roger Penrose claims that consciousness is simply a package of information saved at a sub-atomic, or quantum, level. He claims to have discovered proof that human consciousness is stored as information in microtubules inside human cells, which then escapes the body as a person passes away.
Sir Roger states that when an individual briefly passes away, the quantum information contained with these microtubules is allowed to escape out of the body, leaving this physical dimension. When they are resuscitated, the information returns to the body's cells. He believes that this may explain why individuals have near-death experiences (NDE's) and that the way this information escapes microtubules accounts for the experience of a soul leaving the body and possibly even the description of a 'tunnel of light' that many people report seeing.
The scientist stated in the documentary 'Closer to Truth', "If the patient passes away, it's possible that this quantum information can exist outside the body, quite possibly forever, as what many religions and beliefs call a soul."
Sir Roger's theory is backed by other scientists who believe that when our physical bodies die there is life, or an existence of some kind beyond. Scientists at the distinguished Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich argue that our physical universe is simply an illusion created by consciousness inside a physical human body.
Dr Hans-Peter Dürr, who was head of the institute, stated, "What we perceive to be the here and now, the world we experience, is only the surface material level that can be comprehended. The beyond is a much larger, infinite reality. When the physical human body perishes, the spiritual quantum field continues indefinitely. Essentially, we are immortal."
After Death Experiences
"The world becomes foggy and soft and a wave of tranquillity washes over you as your vision fades to black." This is how a man describes his experience of the afterlife, following resuscitation.
This description of the afterlife was published on Reddit, where many users who have been declared clinically dead and then resuscitated are sharing their personal stories about what they experienced.
The man went on to say, "I was getting an angiogram done. I was wide awake talking to the doctor and watching the monitor, when alarms began to go off and everybody ended up panicking. My world ended up becoming foggy and soft and everything just faded to black. Then I remember opening my eyes and a doctor stating, 'we got him back'. More than anything, it was just a really peaceful experience."
In an another thread, one user wrote, "I remember being jolted forwards in the back of an ambulance when I was being resuscitated, shouting at the EMT's when they informed me I had returned from the dead. It resembled sleeping with no dreams."
Another person stated that their experience of the afterlife was like a an out-of-body experience.
They stated that it felt, "so familiar" that it actually frightened them. They went on to say, "I fell out of the third dimension into... another dimension? It's so hard to explain."
One man who suffered life threatening injuries when his colon burst believes that he was greeted by an angel in the afterlife in a heavenly realm.
The man wrote on the Near Death Experience Research Foundation, "I was in a beautiful space filled with light. A male angel was calmly talking to me. He told me everything was going to be alright and that I was going to make it through this and go on to live a long, pleasant life. He told me that I would have mostly peace and much joy in my life. It was the most peaceful experience I have ever had. I was told that I had nothing to be afraid of and everything to live for."
So whether you meet angels, previously departed loved ones or experience a peaceful sleep without dreams, one thing all of these stories have in common, is that there is some form of awareness after our soul leaves our physical body and moves on to whatever comes next.
It's also important to remember that by their very nature, Near Death Experiences mean that the person's experience of the afterlife is a temporary one. This could mean that they have only experienced the first part of an afterlife and only a small fraction of what comes next.
The subject of Near Death Experiences fascinates many of us so keep coming back for more research and stories when we will be looking at this subject in more detail.