Near Death, UFO's, and The Rethinking of Reality...

“I believe there is an perichoresis, an interpenetration. It is possible, indeed, that we three are now sitting among desolate rocks, by bitter streams.

…And with what companions?”

- Arthur Machen

When most people think of Near Death Experiences, they think of a tunnel of light, meeting heavenly beings, etc. A good number of people also think it’s bullshit. Those are the people who have never actually researched the subject. Does a NDE prove life after death? No. Absolutely not. However it is a genuine mystery that a few brave scientists over the years may have finally made some headway into.

Make no mistake NDE’s are a joke among conventional scientists, not because there is nothing to them, but because they fall into that fringe that they stay far away from. That fringe starts to unravel accepted theories, and is really just inconvenient. So the mainstream scientists stay far away. There are however, doctors who often starting out as skeptical, eventually admit that there seems to be something to the experiences. Michael Sabom wrote a book back in the late 90's called, Light and Death about a particular case that can’t be explained by accepted theories. But this case is not unique, often people who are dead on the operating table find themselves hovering over their bodies and can describe in detail what was happening on the operating table, or in other rooms nearby. The standard explanation for this is that they are just hearing it and their brains are making up the rest. There was a cardiologist, whose name escapes me at the moment, who after hearing numerous stories of NDE’s, and being completely skeptical, decided to mount his own study. What he did was this, over the coarse of a year or so, every patient he worked on was asked to fill out a questionnaire. Said document asked IF the person had a NDE, as well as questions about what happened during the procedure. What he discovered after many 100’s of patients was interesting, and turned him away from being a skeptic (a common thing for cardiologists who actually do any research on the subject). He found that, as we already knew, not everyone who died had a NDE. BUT, he also discovered that some people who did not die, and weren’t even near death, DID have a NDE. He also found that the people who had NDE’s could describe in clear and precise detail what was happening in the operating room, not just conversations, but actions, tools, etc. The people who did not have NDE’s, also filled out this portion, and he found that what they thought was happening could not have been more wrong. This disproved the idea that people were just making up what was happening in the operating room or just dreaming about it. Every indication is that these people were seeing what was going on in the room, even when all brain activity had ceased. There is, of course, also the famous story of the woman who, while having a NDE, floated out of the operating room, was able to recount a conversation, that was verified, happening in the waiting room, and then finally floated outside the building. In the last part, she saw a red shoe sitting on the ledge. When she woke up and told the doctor about it, she decided to check it out. She went to where the shoe was supposed to be, and sure enough, there it was, just as described. What was more, the shoe was not in a location anyone would have been able to casually see it.

All of this, however, does not say anything about an afterlife, what it displays is the probability that consciousness can move without the body. Now that we have established certain facts about NDE’s, we have to look at other research.

There were studies done at a certain point using Ketamine, and it was shown that under certain conditions, the drug could create visions similar to NDE’s. The problem with this, however, is that there is no known mechanism for the body to create Ketamine naturally. This did not stop various skeptics from latching on to the theory that somehow Ketamine explained away NDE’s. After all, when your only goal is to dismiss something, and you have already made up your mind, any explanation will do. Skeptics don’t use facts, they use belief. The very people who did the study said that they did not believe that this explained NDE’s in any way. Yet it was sighted repeatedly as the solution to NDE’s.

On the other hand, Dr. Rick Strassman, who was the only doctor since the 70’s allowed to do research on hallucinatory drugs, found that DMT, which is naturally occurring in the human body, also created experiences similar to NDE’s. Not exact, but he theorized that the circumstances may also be a factor, and that we don’t know what a natural release of DMT may do. Some of the experiencers also reported encounters very similar to alien abduction scenarios. He was not prepared for any of this, and after years of research he finally concluded that DMT didn’t cause hallucinations, per se. He felt that what was more likely happening was that DMT was re-tuning the brain, allowing consciousness to interact with a different reality. He termed our reality, channel normal, comparing the re-tuning to a TV set. In his book, DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, he shows, in detail, why he doesn’t feel that what people were experiencing on DMT were mere hallucinations. There was too much consistency between trips, and between the patients. Hallucinations simply don’t work like that.

But this makes a strange connection, that of alien abductions and NDE’s. Oddly enough, Dr. Kenneth Ring made the same connection back in his 1992 book, The Omega Project: Near-Death Experiences, Ufo Encounters, and Mind at Large. Originally, Dr. Ring’s research was into the NDE. In this book, he expanded his research to not only explore the after effects of the Near Death Experience, but also to explore the alien abduction phenomenon. What he found was stunning, and rather confusing. He found that the aftereffects of both experiences had similar effects on the experiencer. Dr. Ring identified various value and belief changes associated with people who have had either experience. Some of these changes in personality involve having a greater appreciation for live, higher self-esteem, more compassion, a better understanding of life, as well as a sense of purpose, a desire to learn new things, an increase in spirituality (do not confuse this with religion), and many other things, including a raising of IQ. On the other hand both experiences can also create negative effects, where people have trouble dealing with the experience and life afterwards. But what stands out in this research, aside from the similarities, are the verifiable changes in the people who experience these things. Hallucinations do not cause core changes in a person, these experiences do. The late John Mack also dealt, on the abduction side, with these personality changes in great detail. He was, of course, ostracized for even attempting to study such a field. Again, his research confirms what Dr. Ring discovered. That there are changes to the individual, and that both experiences seem to have some common core.

One of the things that Dr. Strassman did not find, were any kind of long lasting personality changes in the individual. It is possible, however, that the amount of DMT, or the setting may have been to blame. Or maybe DMT is not the catalyst. But there is more.

As I said at the start, not everyone who dies has a Near Death Experience. This would seem to be a puzzle. On explanation may be, that only some remember it. Like dreams. Everyone dreams. Everyone. However, it is not hard to find people who rarely or never remember their dreams, or who believe they do not dream. Dreaming is also an altered state of consciousness, so perhaps there is a connection. Dr. Ring’s research led him to the idea of the Encounter Prone Personality. The EPP is someone who is more likely to have a paranormal experience. Could this be connected to DMT? Dr. Strassman wonders the same thing. Could it be that some people have more DMT running through their systems than others. Or maybe some people’s bodies create DMT more easily, then allowing them to access another reality. It could even be an environmental factor that sets it off. Consider that UFO sightings often happen in flaps, or flap areas. Paul Devereux has his Earth Lights theory (Earth Lights Revelation: Ufo's and Mystery Lightform Phenomena : The Earth's Secret Energy Force), which shows that such lights, perhaps generated by the Earth itself, happen most often along fault lines. All of these things may be connected. The same mechanism that causes Earth Lights, may have an effect on certain people, whose brains then release a dose of DMT, allowing them to access another world, or have an alien abduction experience, whatever it really is. This theory seems rather effective. There is only one problem. There are many UFO encounters with physical evidence. Granted never enough to fully claim the UFO Phenomenon as real to many people, but take for instance, there was a UFO landing case, where the witnesses watched a bright object come down and land in their woods. They went out to investigate. When they got there, it shot off and disappeared. It broke some of the tree limbs, and left a white circle on the floor of the forest. The mother of the group, reached out and touched the circle, and lost all feeling in her hand. It never returned. The area where the circle was is now, still, dead, decades later. Nothing can grow there. What does this prove? Nothing but that something odd happened. There are enough of these cases, enough radar traces, and other tantalizing pieces of evidence to rule out a purely mental phenomenon. At the same time, there is no evidence that UFO sightings like this are in any way extra-terrestrial. What they are is a total mystery.

I could go on for days about examples to back up all of the above. What it boils down to, though, is that there is more going on here than we currently can comprehend. A Near Death Experience may have nothing to do with what actually happens when we die, any more than UFO’s looking like saucers mean they come from outer space. They may have more to do with each other than most suspect. There is a legitimate mystery here, and one that may need a complete reorganization of our view of reality to even begin to process.

One take could be this. These experiences allow us access to another world. Another dimension. Under the right circumstances, we can interact and access that world. The above DMT theory would allow for this to happen. However, the inhabitants of that world, may also be able to come here, maybe not fully, but just enough to create the type of odd UFO sightings and such that occur, occasionally leaving puzzling evidence. This would account for all the evidence. It is not currently provable, and may be completely wrong, but at least it takes everything into account.

Lets look at one more piece of the puzzle. In his book Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind, Graham Hancock suggests that the alien abduction scenario, the fairies and elves of the past, and shamanic experiences are all of the same ilk. Jacques Vallee had previous, in Passport to Magonia: On UFOs, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds, and DIMENSIONS: A Casebook of Alien Contact, shown the link between fairies, UFO’s, Fatima, and more. Graham goes a bit further and shows how the ancient cave paintings are not of hunted animals, but of shamanic journeys. All of these factors collide to create a rich and varied picture. Vallee shows that this phenomenon, whatever it truly is, has been with us throughout history. Graham adds into the picture the Shamanic element, which then aligns with the DMT research. When all is said and done, we are looking at something that has interacted with and been of part of the foundation of mankind throughout time. Some, like John Keel, feel that this phenomenon may not have our best wishes at heart. Mack and Hancock show that with bad experiences, growth comes, so maybe what Keel sees as dangerous, may eventually be beneficial. Or maybe, like us, some of what is there is helpful and some is not.

So let us look again at the NDE, in this new light. What do we know? Well, the out of body experiences suggest that consciousness is not confined to the body, and MAY survive death. It does not, however, necessarily show us what death is like. This reminds me though, of another strange connection between the UFO phenomenon and NDE’s. One of the common elements of the NDE is meeting of dead relatives when they go towards or reach the light. There have been numerous abduction accounts of people on ‘ships’ meeting dead relatives aboard. Whether or not these are their actual dead relatives in either case, is an open question, but the appearance of said factor in UFO accounts is very strange. Whatever is happening has a common factor. The experiences may be different, but yet, not so much at times. The other interesting thing is the personality changes that NDE and UFO experiencers have. As mentioned above, a simple hallucination does not cause this, nor does the DMT doses that were given by Strassman. I find the raise in IQ especially interesting, as being dead should not expand your intelligence, if anything, one would think small amounts of brain damage would likely be more common. Current science can not explain any of this. Nor will it even address the subjects. Death may have nothing to do with NDE’s, but the near death state may open up doors in some people.

It is easy for the skeptic to dismiss this data, they will never accept it anyways, so proving anything to skeptics is pointless. They have made up their minds. Luckily, there are those open minded skeptics, who are willing to do open and honest research and not dismiss things out of hand. It is because of these people that we may have finally reached something NEW about these types of experiences. For the foreseeable future, I suppose we will all find out when we do die. What happens will happen. I often wonder how these closed minded skeptics (and atheists for that matter) react when they die and their consciousness continues. Do they stop and look back, realizing how ignorant they were? On the other hand, if they are right, and when you die that is it, well, we won’t know anyways, now will we. I believe that there is more than enough evidence to suggest the independent nature of consciousness without the body, as well as the idea that consciousness is not a by product of matter, but that matter is a creation of consciousness. A very eastern idea, that western science is slowly finding itself having to deal with. Ah, but that is another subject...

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

- Teilhard de Chardin

Five Points...

So, I happened across this article on Digg earlier.

I felt after reading it, that it needed some commentary.

Number One, Lake Monsters. More often than not, I dismiss Lake Monsters. If one exists, ok, but evidence against them is rather strong, at least as far as what we expect them to be. That does not mean that people aren’t seeing monsters, just that perhaps they are not flesh and blood creatures, there may be a very good, and possibly more interesting explanation. However, number one holds some merit, good.

Number Two, Hoaxes. Also, good point, hoaxes at this point in time are so easy, not to mention the amount junk we have in our environment that may be misinterpreted. I find the UFO (read that as Unidentified Flying Object, NOT as Space Ship) sightings prior to our ability to fly sometimes more interesting because we know it couldn’t be us. There are plenty of those. Nowadays, hoaxes are so damned easy, and easy to make them look really good. So they are right that hoaxes are a problem, but they don’t argue against paranormal phenomenon, just a fact of culture and technology that it becomes a problem in determining real from fake.

Number Three, Unclaimed Large Cash Rewards. Here is where they lose ground. The problem with said cash awards is this, the die hard skeptics that offer them, make sure that no one will ever pass their tests. Of course they are unclaimed, they are more of a publicity stunt than anything else. If you live in New York City, and one day offer $100,000 to anyone who can bring you a live Moose in the next 5 minutes, good chance no one will, but that doesn’t mean that Moose are not real. Yet that is the logic of such cash prizes. Closed minded skeptics, like James Randi, mentioned in the article, will never see anything as proof. Nothing. Period. They have already made up their minds. No one will ever get the money, because no matter how much someone proves, it will not be enough. So on this point they fail miserably. This is not evidence against the paranormal, this is more a psychological exercise for the closed minded. Being an open minded skeptic is probably the best way to be, but a closed minded one will never learn anything new because they think they know it all already. It is not doubt that they have, but certainty.

Number Four, The Fermi Paradox. If we were to argue that space aliens were here, this may or may not add or detract from the argument. Basically, it is hypothetical. Everything in this point is hypothetical. What if. Sure, Richard Dawkins will tell you he is right, but that’s because he falls into that closed minded skeptic category. He already knows he is right about what he believes, so you can’t really make a point to such a person. Anyways, this is obviously an attempt to dismiss UFO sightings. Not only doesn’t it work on various levels, but any real analysis of the phenomenon does not point to ET, but something altogether stranger and more passive. And when that is comprehended, this whole point is, well, pointless.

Number Five, The God Helmet. This one is interesting. It proves that electromagnetic energy can produce interesting effects on the brain. This is a good point against the paranormal. Other things must be considered, though. Ok, so using this helmet can replicate certain paranormal mindsets. Feelings of others in the room with you, for instance. Two things must be worked out. One, are there? Just because we can’t see them in a normal state of being, by tweaking our brain, the brain in the case assumed to be a receiver, like a television, we tune to something outside the ‘norm’. Two, by pressing on certain nerves, you may feel like a part of you, which is not being touched at that time, is being touched. Does that mean that when it is really being touched it is just an illusion? Of course, you could go deep with this question, but I think we will stay on the shallow side for now. Research has been done that suggests that Ketamine can induce something that resembles a Near Death Experience. That is interesting. However, when someone has a real NDE, there is no trace of Ketamine in their system, so it really doesn’t work as a explanation, now does it? Just because something resembles the effects of something else, doesn’t mean that it is now explained. The people who did the initial research were pretty clear at the end that they did not think that Ketamine was in any way responsible for NDE’s, but that didn’t stop the skeptic army from eating that up and spitting it in everyone’s face. So, is the God helmet interesting? Hell, yes. Does it explain all spiritual states and paranormal experiences? Not even remotely. It is, however a tool that may be used for further understanding about the way our brain interacts with this reality that we share.


The problem with the paranormal is, for us to begin to understand it, takes a whole new concept of reality. As long as people try to squeeze it into our current conceptions of how things are, we will not understand. Our narrow belief in how things are does not accommodate many of these phenomenon, which is why you have people arguing that UFO's are space ships, while others arguing, that, despite the evidence of something going on that is causing these experiences, they are somehow not real (aka hoaxes, or hallucinations, or whatever). Both sides are operating in a narrow band of which the true UFO Phenomenon supersedes. That is what the term paranormal means, really. Outside the norm. Someday we may evolve the wisdom to understand many of these things, and then we will look back on what we believe now and laugh at how primitive we were...

Appreciation

Why the lack of appreciation. We have a fascinating world that we have created for ourselves, and most of us seem to only look to the horizon or beyond, and never look around at the wonder they have around them. Progress is always good, but to forsake the present for a phantom future is silly, just as silly to close future progress in the present. But a balance is not hard, not really. Appreciate what you have and move forward. Life should be lived, that is why we are here, after all. Christians live for Heaven, Buddhists for the non-existence of Nirvana, and on and on it goes. All looking for a reward later. Sad to waste what you have for something that does not exist. Religious or otherwise. To move forwards with blinders on will cause you to miss all the wonderful things that abound around you. Focused on just one idea, one goal, rather than the experience of what comes. As a society, we are failing, our leaders and others, conspire to limit our choices and freedom, to control all they can, and we, blindly, follow their path. Change starts within, we need to break the shackles inside that have created this reality, and make something better. Appreciate what you have. Live you life. Not so hard, really...

Dhamra

We are surrounded by rules and laws. Taught what is right and wrong. And yet, these things can never be absolute. No law covers all situations, no rule allows for all things that could be happening. Yet, the simple truth is, that inside we all know what is right. And by right, I do not refer to a simple black and white separation of things, because all things are relative. There is an old Sanskrit word, Dharma. There are volumes of ancient literature written about this in India. And in the simplest form it means 'Right Action'. That is an individual perspective in all cases, and something that does not always follow logic. We all have access to this sense, yet most people are taught to ignore it. Perhaps because it can not be controlled by written laws and rules, and that is what those in power want to use to keep their power. It doesn't matter in the slightest, however, what they want, you can always open yourself up to it.

In any situation, you have that sense of what is the right thing to do. Sometimes it may logically seem like the wrong thing, however, it is the thing that takes you where you need to be. Crowley coined a phrase; Do As Thou Wilt Shall Be the Whole of the Law. Simpletons made this to be you can do whatever you want. Wiccans corrupted it to be; Do as you Will, but Harm None. But that is not what it means in either case. It means to follow Dharma, in this case identified as Your Will. Crowley also said that Every Man and Woman is a Star, in this case meaning that everyone has their own Will to follow, and that we all follow our own orbits and paths.

Staying true to this path is what one needs to be truly satisfied in this existence. It does not mean you will be happy all the time, it is not some magic formula that unlocks paradise, life is about contrast, and experience, of all kinds. You can get knocked down, and you can keep getting up, ideally, one more time that you can get knocked down, and although it may be hell during the time you experience it, you learn much about yourself in the aftermath, you can even feel good about it after the fact. We exist here, inside time, but outside of this world, we also exist, and there, we are outside of the confines of time. That part of us knows what it wants and where it wants to explore, and it can see from a much wider perspective. But that part of us, is not conscious here. However, we can get a sense of which way we should go from it, from that part of us that can see so much more, that can see to a further horizon. Dharma. And, what it truly becomes, more than any dogma or organization can create, is faith. It is true faith, because you know, in a sense that can not be spoken, in a sense that can not be taught, where to step.

Even sensing it does not mean that we will not cave into our egos now and again and do what we know we should not, that is also a part of life. Our lower selves conflicting with our higher selves. I think that a big part of the problem our society now faces is that lack of connection to a higher self. Without that, we will fall to ruin. Written laws can not help us. Obeying material, lower senses does not help us, it does not take us where we should go, and it does not allow us to grow. We all need to be able to trust in ourselves with a faith that can't be shaken. All of us. No matter how much you feel that that description fits you, you can always be more connected than you are. The conflict between above and below is meant to be, it is healthy, it is where we find out strength and our weaknesses. It is where we learn more about this being that we have spent our lives creating. Are you proud of your creation? You should be. But it can always be made better. There can always be more. There are always new heights, new challenges, new mysteries... There is always something more to create.

See, it is simple. It is honesty with yourself, honesty with others follows that naturally. It is the faith to close your eyes and jump, because you know you should, rather than giving into the fear of not knowing what is there that you are jumping into... Rather than having to look to a church or organization to see what they recommend. It is freedom personified. We make our world what we make it. I don't think it would be hard to make it more interesting than it is now, do you?

Love Under Will. The separation of opposites below the abyss, the contrast that brings the world into being.

Seriah Azkath
Demonic Host Lurking in the Shadows...


"I need to be alone tonight
Smother me or suffer
Lay down I'll die tonight
Smother me or suffer
When I'm gone, wait here
Discover all of life's surprises
When I'm gone wait here
I'll send my child my last good smile

If you pass through my soul tonight
Gather all his troubles
Tomorrow's long eternal night
Gather for tomorrow
When I'm gone wait here
Discovers all of earth's surprises
When I'm gone wait here
I'll send my child my last good smile"

- Fields of the Nephilim "Love Under Will"

The Journey...

The journey is what matters. All the answers leave you empty. It doesn’t matter if it is as trivial as a TV show, like Lost, or as deep as a spiritual journey. To have all the answers means that the journey is over. There isn’t anything more. The story has been told. The journey is the wondrous part of the whole thing. I realize that people want all the answers just handed to them, right now. Why is that? Why do so many people not know how to live? People go to school and memorize all the answers, and once they have them, they walk out into what they think is life, only to dully exist day to day. There is no journey. There may be the acquiring of money. There may be the goal of retirement, but it is all a safe, well-traveled road. And at that point, why bother? The dynamic vividness of life is smothered. If you know all the island’s secrets, why bother watching the drama of finding them unfold? There is no excitement in that. Life is not safe, and we should embrace that. We should embrace its dark hidden areas, because that is where the wonder lies, untouched. New. To walk in circles is lunacy. To stay on the most well worn areas of the path, is tedium. To not explore the wonder, is blasphemy. The journey always ends, so why not see as much as you can, while you can? Why not tread right where you fear to? Sometimes you need to, to live. To remind yourself that you are alive, because even walking down the middle of the path is only an illusion of safety. Fear is the killer and the thief, stealing your life away. Find your own way, and you find yourself. And you truly live your life.

“When living your life like an arrow in flight, you must always accept that the end is in sight. Be grateful at least, for the fact that you knew that you came to death – He did not come for you. You are like targets who sit and await, patiently suffer the arrows of fate, saying ‘I am but mortal and destined to die, I can change nothing, so why should I try?’”

- Sabbat “The Best of Enemies”

A Moment

What are we, that exist in a temporal illusion of waves of probability? We are everywhere, everyone, connected by the very fabric of consciousness, yet we forget, and believe the illusion of separation, of time, distance. It is nothing but an adventure, a chance to create something new, to expand beyond, which sometimes requires a different focus. Too often, dead eyes stare out into a seemingly hostile world, unable to understand their own creation. They mire themselves in the muck of money and ego, and wonder why they feel so lost. It is so easy to lose sight of the shore when you are overwhelmed by a commercial society aimed at guiding everyone down the same few paths. People become inundated by feelings of inadequacy, and insecurity, to the point of not even being able to see what is outside themselves. This makes the masses easy to corral into one place, and destroy their spirits. It is society based survival instincts perverted to the extreme. We can be so much more, if we can just shake the shackles that abound today. Life is limitless, we can create what we want, but we have to want something better. And to do that, is to first appreciate what we have in this existence. The sheer wonder of it. For until we do that, why should we care? To look deep inside and see without with new eyes. To take a forward step in the spirit of adventure and creation, not to cower and wait for someone to tell us what to do next. Not everyone is meant to be a leader in society, but everyone has it inside to lead themselves. Life is morphic and death, is most certainly, not what it seems. We die all the time, your bodies are not what they were 10 years ago. Every cell has died and been replaced, yet we continue, because we control the forms of this existence, even if we do not know it. We die when we are done. Not based on the importance we have made here, but on something higher, that may be rather ineffable here. Nothing is what it seems. The transient nature of reality seems all too real when you are down it in, but we need it, that reality, to build anew... We suffer, and move beyond. Opposition is grace, the petty tyrants inspiration to overcome, and life itself, life itself can be an adventure. Within, as much as without...