CONSCIOUSNESS SURVIVING DEATH RESEARCH

 

Abstract – Understanding consciousness has been the subject of much discussion over human history. The western medical model suggests that it is located physically in the brain yet this cannot explain experiences such as terminal lucidity, shared death experiences, telepathy, mediumship, out of body experiences and past life regression. This article covers the authors research using 436 near-death experiences with 537 between-life spiritual regressions (BLSR). The similarity between these two completely different methodologies provides some of the strongest research to date that consciousness survives death and reincarnates.

Andy Tomlinson, Reena Kumarasingham

Consciousness background

Perhaps a definition of consciousness can be described as what we experience with our senses. The positive and negative emotions of life and the experience of images, ideas, words, and thoughts.

But how does this explain telepathic communication? Montague Ullman, a psychiatrist and parapsychologist, launched the Maimonides Dream Laboratory in 1962. An analysis of more than 450 telepathic communication trials conducted throughout the Maimonides research programme showed the overall combined hit rate was 63 per cent, where 50 per cent would be expected by chance (1). These results are highly significant, with a probability of it being coincidence of about 75 million to one.

And shared death experience is an interesting aspect of consciousness outside the body. This has been reported by healthy people who are present at the bedside of a dying relative and apparently share some aspect of the death experience of the other person. They occasionally see an incredibly special light in the room or around the bed of the dying person, and experience qualities of bliss, compassion and unconditional love. And sometimes they also join the death experience of the person who just died and then suddenly they are back in their body again at their bedside (2).

Terminal lucidity is when people with a coma, Alzheimer’s, dementia, or other conditions where the brain is not working normally become completely lucid for hours or days just before they die. They have a full memory and know who they are talking to and can reminisce on past experiences (3). It has been reported in the medical literature over the past 250 years, but has received little attention.

Evan Harris Walker, in his book The Physics of Consciousness, likened consciousness to the image on a television (4). The set is the body, the electronics is the brain, and the image comes from the set. The image is not part of the television or the light from the screen. It comes from the invisible signals and frequencies that are transmitted from the satellite or TV stations to the satellite dishes or cables. And the electronics in the TV converts it into images. Likewise, consciousness is like the invisible signals and frequencies all around us image and is all around us, and the brain is like the television a way connecting with it.

Near-Death Experiences background

A near-death experience can happen with any life-threatening event, but is normally applied to a cluster of experiences reported by people who have survived a potentially fatal accident or illness. In some cases, the person experiencing the near-death experience has been monitored by medical staff who report a flat EEG indicating an absence of electrical activity in the cerebral cortex, resulting in a significant reduction of brain functioning. In this state sensory organs are non-functional and so is the brain’s capacity to process their signals. For others the physical state is not known but what does seem common is the type of experience and the strong impact, usually a positive effect, on the person after the event.

George Gallup undertook a survey of 1,500 adult Americans using his normal polling methods between early 1980 and September 1981 and published them in his book Adventures in Immortality (2). He made a projection that of 160 million adult Americans, eight million could have had a near-death experience (5).

It was Raymond Moody’s 1975 book Life after Life that established near-death experiences in public awareness, and it quickly became a bestseller (4). Moody acknowledged that his work was not a scientific study, so Kenneth Ring, a professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut set out to provide a substantial scientific foundational basis for the near-death experience. He introduced sampling procedures, comparison groups and quantifying variables (5).

Bruce Greyson, a former professor of psychiatry at the University of Virginia, has made over the past five decades a substantial contribution to near-death experience research. This included research with 74 subjects, publishing more than 100 near-death experience articles in academic, medical and psychological journals, edited three books and was awarded several research grants and awards (6).

Pim van Lommel specialised in cardiology while working for twenty-six years at the Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem, in the Netherlands. Together with colleagues they carried out a comprehensive near-death experience study over thirteen years where they investigated the experiences of 62 patients in ten Dutch hospitals with near-death experience after being resuscitated following a cardiac arrest (7).

British neurophysiologist and neuropsychiatrist Peter Fenwick, has researched near-death experiences since the 1980s and ran a neuropsychiatry unit at the Institute of Psychiatry, London. He collected a database of over 300 NDE accounts, largely in response to a BBC documentary in 1987, and this has led to the publication of his book The Truth in the Light (8), co-authored with his wife Elizabeth Fenwick, and The Art of Dying (9).

The evidence of rigorous, controlled near-death experience research by these medical professionals suggests that consciousness is not contained within the brain and can survive at least for a short time after death.

Between Live Regression (BLSR) background

Canadian psychiatrist Joel Whitton instructed a client in a past life to go back to the life before the one she was in, and was amazed to find her describing herself as being, “In the sky… waiting to be born… watching my mother”. He went on to make a huge contribution to the understanding of the between life experience by deliberately investigating the phenomenon with a number of his more responsive subjects, publishing his research in his 1986 collaboration with Joe Fisher in his book Life Between Life (10).

Dolores Cannon, who has written several past-life books, stumbled upon between lives by accident when a client after a past life death began describing floating above the body. Her further research in this area was published in 1993 in Between Death and Life (11). And consistent summaries of between-lives regression were also mentioned by psychiatrist Shakuntala Modi in 1997 in her book Remarkable Healings (12).

The most successful pioneer to bring this to public consciousness was American Michael Newton with what he called life between lives. Like many of the others working in this area he was sceptical about past-life regression and stumbled upon the soul memories between lives by accident when issuing an imprecise command to a client. From that point he concentrated most of his efforts on investigating this area as thoroughly as he could, publishing his findings based on thousands of cases in his books Journey of Souls (13) and Destiny of Souls (14) in 1994 and 2000 respectively.

Andy was trained by Michael and worked with him offering training to therapists in this area, and then went on to take his work further himself. In 2006, with the help of researcher and author Ian Lawton, Exploring the Eternal Soul (15) was published. This research added to the between-lives experience by gathering more information about the healing and reincarnation process and analysing pioneers’ research to demonstrate the consistency of key events.

In summary a BLSR explores consciousness between lives. The client needs to be in a deep trance and at this level the client’s conscious mind is inactive and their intuition opens to the between lives memories. The normal way of entering the between lives is from a past life while the client is in deep hypnosis and then exploring consciousness memories between lives.

Research

Between us we have been training therapists to carry out between lives regression internationally for nearly 20 years through the Past-Life Regression Academy. To qualify, therapists need to submit five between-lives spiritual regression case studies for certification. The case studies are done on a standardised template that requires information to be provided for each of the between-lives spiritual regression stages and detailing what the client gains immediately after the session.

There were 537 different subject case studies from the work of 108 therapists we had trained. This gave us a solid foundation that we could work with. So, we embarked on our research.

The Academy training provided the structure and consistency for this research. Each client had a pre-regression screening session to ensure they could enter deep hypnosis. Any personal issues that would affect entering the between life experience are cleared first. This includes past and current life personal issues or blockages. The depth of hypnotic trance is important so that the person’s conscious mind will not intervene. Various measurements can be used including physical indicators and the response time and volume of voice when the client answers questions. Only open questions are used to prevent any leading, such as, “Describe what you are aware of around you,” or “What is communicated to you?” or “Tell me more.” Closed questions are confined to confirming information with a yes and no reply and most time commands are simple, like “What happens next?”

Under deep hypnosis, clients tend to take instructions extremely literally, much like a computer program. So deliberate falsification of information is virtually impossible unless the person is not really in trance, and the Academy therapist is trained to detect this. And when people are asked open questions, their answers are based only on their genuine experiences.

In comparing 537 between-lives spiritual regression cases with 436 near-death experiences, a major obvious difference is that in the former the therapist guides the session while the near-death experience evolved spontaneously. For example, therapists start the regression from a client’s last past life and ensure the heart has stopped there before continuing. As they move out of the body unprompted, they may be asked what they are aware of, which accounts for them knowing they are out of the body.

The near-death experience only covers the early stages of a between lives spiritual regression because the experience is stopped to return to the current life. So, for a comparison just the first five stages of the between lives process have been used. These are:

 

1. Out of body, transitioning by a tunnel or light
2. Meeting with spirit guides, friends or family
3. Varied perception of surroundings
4. Initial rest and energy healing
5. Past life review

 

Results

Analysis

From the results it is evident that there are statistical similarities, correlations and corroboration between the elements experienced during the NDE and the BLSR. The omission of information from some of the NDE elements is because the pioneers did not ask these questions. Over all the 12 elements of the NDE correspond to the BLSR regression experiences. The differences are in the variance between some of the percentages.

There is a higher percentage of awareness of being dead (100 per cent) and being out of the body (99 per cent) after the past life with BLSR than NDE. This is because an NDE is spontaneous, unexpected and the person is not always understanding what is happening. For a BLSR, therapists ensure the past-life character’s heart has stopped beating at the point of their past-life death and that they have left the body by asking these questions. Only one per cent of BLSR clients went through the five main stages while still energetically connected to the body, before leaving the body at a later stage.

Unexpectedly, there are significantly fewer accounts of positive emotions in the BLSR accounts than the NDE accounts. Many NDE subjects experience joy, peace, being one with everything, and receiving unconditional love from a divine being. This has similarities to when BLSR clients go through the healing stage, where the old emotions are stripped off leaving just positive emotions. However, only thirty per cent of the BLSR accounts mention positive emotions. The reason for this may be because our therapists do not ask questions to ascertain emotions during these stages of the process. The positive emotions that were included were spontaneous accounts of these emotions.

With BLSR accounts there was a much higher percentage of visual perception, light phenomena and communication with light beings by the participants. With BLSR accounts, our therapists are trained to ask the clients to describe the scene around them. So, there are plenty of light descriptions and visual perceptions. We are unsure if the people who have had an NDE have had the same amount of familiarity with light beings and the corresponding language.

Surprisingly, there are significantly fewer BLSR accounts of moving through a tunnel or darkness than with NDE. Many of the BLSR accounts report transitioning and moving through light. There are many varied descriptions of the transition (a hand pulling them up, a glass elevator shaft, and a staircase of light, to name a few). But only 11 per cent of the accounts reported moving through a tunnel or darkness.

The last area where there is a percentage variance is in the results of the life review. The BLSR accounts have a significantly higher number of life reviews than NDE accounts. A possible reason for this is that those who experience the NDE are turned back before their life review because the information may affect free will in completing their current life soul plan. With BLSR clients they are screened to be open to this learning should it emerge. The number may have been even higher, except in some BLSR accounts the past-life review happened at a later point in the cycle so was not included in the count.

With a BLSR, when the past life review took place, it was in great detail and some had auditory experiences and some visual experiences. NDE life reviews are similar to BLSR past-life reviews in giving deeper insights, often with advice from spiritual beings.

Those who have experienced an NDE report that time appears to be non-existent, with everything happening all at once. This is similar to BLSR afterlife experiences.

Conclusions

Despite the small differences in percentages, the BLSR research shows strong similarities with NDE accounts and the peer-reviewed research by medical pioneers in the following areas:

• Out-of-body experience
• Awareness of being dead
• Visual perceptions
• Audible sounds or voices
• Positive emotions (i.e. peace).
• Light phenomena
• Moving through a tunnel or darkness
• Communication with light or other beings
• Another world or celestial landscape
• Meeting with deceased persons
• Life review
• Precognition

The strength of the BLSR research is that there were 537 cases from people around the world that were collected over 20 years and 436 NDE. The consistently similar experiences in the two different processes strongly suggests that consciousness does survive permanent bodily death, and this consciousness is our eternal soul.

 

References

1. Sherwood S. J. and C. A. Roe, “A Review of Dream ESP Studies Conducted Since the Maimonides Dream ESP Programme,” Journal of Consciousness         Studies, 10 (2003): 88.
2. Van Lommel, P. (2010). Consciousness beyond Life. The Science of the Near- Death Experience. New York: Harper Collins, 2010, 41–42.
3. Nahm, M. et al. (2008). Terminal Lucidity: A Review and a Case Collection. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics 55, no. 1 (July–August 2012):138–42.
4. Brayne, S. H. Lovelace, and P. Fenwick. (2008). “End-of-Life Experiences and the Dying Process in a Gloucestershire Nursing Home as Reported by                Nurses and Care Assistants, American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care 25: 195–206.
5. Gallup G. and W. Proctor. (1982). Adventures in Immortality: A Look beyond the Threshold of Death. New York: McGraw-Hill.
6. Greyson, B. “Near Death Experiences and Attempted Suicide,” Suicide and Life- Threatening Behavior 11 (1981): 10–16.
7. Van Lommel, P. (2010). Consciousness beyond Life. The Science of the Near- Death Experience. New York: HarperCollins, 41–42.
8. Fenwick and P. Fenwick (1996). The Truth in The Light. London: Headline.
9. Fenwick, P., and Fenwick, E. (2008). The Art of Dying. London: Continuum.
10. Whitton J. and J. Fisher. (1998). Life between Life. New York: Warner Books.
11. Cannon, D. (2003). Between Death and Life: Conversations with a Spirit. Huntsville, AR: Ozark Mountain Publishing.
12. Modi, S. (1997). Remarkable Healings: A Psychiatrist Uncovers Unsuspected Roots of Mental and Physical Illness. Newburyport, MA: Hampton Roads.
13. Newton, M. (1994). Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life between Lives. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn.
14. Newton, M. (2000). Destiny of Souls: New Case Studies of Life between Lives. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn.
15. Tomlinson, A. (2006). Exploring the Eternal Soul: Insights from Past Life and Spiritual Regression. Salisbury, From the Heart Press.
16. Ring, K. Review of G. Gallup and W. Proctor, Adventures in Immortality: A Look beyond the Threshold of Death (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1982).                https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc799071/
17. Greyson, B. (1983). The Near-Death Experience Scale. Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease.
18. Van Lommel, P. (2001). Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands. The Lancet; 358:               2039-2045.
19. Fenwick, P., and Fenwick, E., (1996) The Truth in The Light. London: Headline.

Footnote

The other area of research with BLSR and NDE is about the life- changing impact that expands consciousness. This is covered in the authors’ new book Between Lives – Past-Life Regression, Near-Death Experiences, and the Evolution of Consciousness.

Andy Tomlinson email; [email protected]

Andy is a psychology graduate, psychotherapist, certified regression therapist and the founder of the Past Life Regression Academy established in 2002 that has trained over 500 past life, current life and between lives spiritual regression therapists worldwide. He is a founding member of the Spiritual Regression Therapy Association and the Earth Association of Regression Therapy, and has been the President of the Society of Medical Advance and Research with Regression Therapy. His books include Exploring the Eternal Soul, Healing the Eternal Soul, editing Transforming the Eternal Soul and co-author of Between Lives.

Reena Kumarasingham email; [email protected]

Reena is a psychology graduate, regression therapist, between life spiritual regression therapist and a certified international trainer for the Past Life Regression Academy. She has trained therapists in the UK, Australia, Singapore and USA, specialising in between lives spiritual regression since 2014. She is the author of the highly acclaimed Radiant Light series of historical past life books, comprising of Shrouded Truth, The Magdalene Lineage and Divine Consciousness and co-author of Between Lives.