Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience

This is an important book for anyone who is interested to consider the survival of consciousness after death. Dr. Lommel is a credible source, due to his many years experience in a clinical setting. Also, the book is comprehensive and clearly written. It is thoroughly footnoted and exhaustively researched, but the chief attribute of the book is it's accessible writing style and fascinating readability. Pim van Lommel has impeccable credentials in his field and he is also a first-rate storyteller. This is a book that is literally hard to put down. People who experience a near death experience (NDE) often feel alone and may encounter negative feedback from their family and friends. This excellent book was written by a cardiologist who has not had an NDE but rather kept hearing about the experiences from patients. He then conducted several studies, well-designed, that convinced him NDEs are absolutely real. If you have questions about what happens when we die, read this book. If you are skeptical about "near death experienced", read this book. Some parts are a bit scientific in language, but the book is very approachable for all people. The book mainly focuses on the scientific evaluation of a seemingly unscientific phenomena - the near death experiences. Still, it covers a variety of modern researches and theories concerning life and consciousness through NDEs, which makes it at least an interesting, revealing, and thought-provoking reading experience. The writing itself was accessible and thoughtful. Just prepare to be very open-minded. And now I am extremely curious about what science would take us in the future for sure! I enjoy research so having all his references presented means a layman like me can check it out for myself. I didn't notice any religious babble...just facts and theories. My take on the book is...the mind is not the body so nobody dies. Now what? I love the way how the author explains how quantum physics begins to throw light on these things. It can't really be fully explained to our mind limited as it is by time and space and bodily identification but... Also we so much appreciate the good work and research of so many including David Bohm. And for myself, I love how much of the ancient wisdom texts (Advaita Vedanta) concord with NDEs and quantum physics. If you want to really know if this book is for you, go to your local library. If they don't have a copy there is always the option of the Inter-Library Loan procedure (books usually take about 3 weeks to arrive). I almost always preview books from the library before purchasing ... it has saved a lot of disappointment.

In Consciousness Beyond Life, Pim van Lommel makes a strong case for what he calls nonlocal consciousness or continuous consciousness, the idea that a higher form of consciousness exists apart from the brain or the ego. He does this by referencing several studies into Near Death Experiences (NDEs), perimortem and postmortem experiences by the living of (the consciousness of) the dying or recently dead, remote viewing, telekinesis and similar phenomena of consciousness beyond our familiar waking consciousness. In addition to studies, he references surveys of populations around the world of people who have experienced these things personally. He introduces basic concepts of Quantum Physics principles such as entanglement and nonlocality, in layman's terms, to provide a possible explanation of this controversial topic from a more scientific viewpoint. I was expecting a more anecdotal survey of such experiences like most books I have read about NDEs. I was pleasantly surprised to find this author's approach far more satisfying. This book not only makes you think, it often takes your breath away. His "survey course" on the nonlocal properties of DNA alone is worth the price of the book. Chapter 10, the one lengthy description of an NDR's experience was truly mind expanding, unforgettable! I also enjoyed his inclusion of ancient historical descriptions of continuous consciousness from the Hindu Upanishads, Tibetan Buddhist texts and the Bible. I confess I did skim through the more complex discussions of physics, but van Lommel kindly informs the reader when such a section is coming up and invites us to skip these if we choose to. There is also a lot of repetition, especially of statistical data resulting from his studies, but again, these factoids are easily breezed through and in no way detracted from my enjoyment of the book. An overriding theme of the book is to challenge the moribund adherence of the scientific community to a purely materialistic explanation of consciousness. He invites these scientists to open their minds to another possibility. He refers more than once to the concept that even one anomaly to the accepted dogma of the machinistic approach to human consciousness should be enough to engender another look at the question. I will not soon forget this book. If you have ever wondered if the reality we perceive is all that there is, if you feel another dimension existing alongside your everyday existence, if you seek to explore the nature of life and death, I highly recommend that you plunge headfirst into this astonishing work.

I have read a book by this author written with other authors, and it had some similar information, but I wanted to see this author's personal research and interpretation of research done by others on NDEs and Quantum physics and other connections to near death experiences that are reported and studied. While I find all the information in this book really interesting and informative, I have not finished reading it because it is pretty heavy--and feels dense. It is hard to focus on a lot of the information for a long period of time, and I find myself less inclined to pick up the book to read more. Since i have trouble with my eyes if I read too much, I do get the audiobook version too, and I highlight passages in the print copy of the book as I listen, which is helpful, but I have to find time to devote to that process, whereas, I often prefer listening to books while I cook or drive or walk -- this material is a little too deep to just listen to, I think. I review these types of books for NDERF (the NDE Research Foundation) and I am still hoping to get through this book to write up a review.

As someone well into their senior years I have been a voracious reader for more than 7 decades. My interests have ranged from A to Z and from the traditional hard core scientific to the often strange and weird esoteric. This is why while browsing on Amazon when I came across this 422-page soft cover book (Consciousness beyond life: The science of near-death experience by Pim Van Lommel, M.D.) I decided to purchase it. Unlike many other books on this topic, this one is written by a scientifically trained medical doctor who is also open minded enough to not dismiss the thousands of cases all over the world involving out-of-body experiences. Some of the many fascinating areas covered in this book includes the following: “A near-death experience and its impact on life, what is a near-death experience, changed by a near-death experience, near-death experiences in childhood, research into near-death experiences, what happens in the brain when the heart suddenly stops, quantum physics and consciousness, endless consciousness” and other topics. This is an educational and thought-provoking book for anyone who is interested in near-death experiences. I loved it. Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Season of the warrior: A poetic tribute to warriors).

Mr. van Lommel has, in this book, put together a one stop overview of the NDE. NDEs are ready to give our culture what it dearly needs- a view of spirituality that avoids the dogma and superstitious platitudes of religion. Science as it is practiced fumbles with the magnitude and life-changing scope of the NDE, either attempting to reduce it to one of its infamous 'nothing buts' or ignoring it altogether. But van Lommel is a long practicing surgeon, and knows what he's talking about when he tells us that the phenomenon is not reducible to mere hallucination or fantasy. This book covers the subject, and well, from what history has to tell us about the NDE to the medical aspects, and the effects to the experiencer as well- all in a clear, grounded manner that still shows his awe at what the NDE is pointing towards. Van Lommel, despite his authority, knows he's well over his head here, as are we all, but he does an admirable job documenting what we know, and what we can know. If you only read one book on NDEs, this would be a good candidate. The only flaw is that I think he could have included more actual NDE accounts. For those, I'd suggest going to NDERF.ORG and reading some of the page 'extraordinary NDEs'. Amazing, life changing stories. I've read several hundred and can easily say they've changed my life by just reading them- I can only imagine what it's like to have one, and I'm thinking that one day I shall, as will we all, even if we must remove the 'N'! What an amazing reality we live in. Sometimes it's hard to see that- if we could only get a glimpse of the Other Side- and we can, in a way, by studying this most profound of human events. Materialism threatens our world with its nihilism. It's time we all educated ourselves and took up arms against this pernicious philosophy. The study of NDEs is a very powerful tool to this end, and this is perhaps the single best book on the subject. Check out Chris Carter's books as well.

This is a serious study of the science of the consciousness. Anyone interested in the study of Near Death Experiences, intuition, premonition, and all other types of consciousness should read this book. It is not really a book but a detailed study of all the research surrounding these phenomenon, and Dr. Pim Van Lommel, MD has done his homework. The book's detail is exhaustive, and the facts, figures, and discussions are very well documents and supported. Dr. van Lommel may be the world's expert on this type of phenomenon, though he does not make such a claim, it is simply hard to believe anyone else has done such extensive work on this subject. He has developed a hypothesis of consciousness that is extremely interesting, and compelling, and he supports his theory with scientific analysis and study throughout. Some of that study is even done by the US Cia, Stanford, and Princeton, and he uses all of it to promote his idea that much of consciousness is 'non-local'. That essentially means that much of the brain acts as a receiver, along with cellular DNA, and consciousness resides outside of the physical material of the brain. Information is stored as wave particles in a dimension that is space-less, and timeless, and has the ability to communicate with other intelligent creatures who live in the present, or in the past or perhaps even the future. This is a compelling book, not a bunch of psychobabble. This book will change the way to see life and death, and if you are religious, will strengthen your faith in a way you could not have imagined. I do not know if van Lommel is religious, but one suspects he may have started this study as a typical atheist Dutch doctor, but is a much more spiritual person now. Get the book, read it, it will take you some place you have not been, and it will take you there on solid ground.

I'm a skeptic, but completely open to some of the ideas in this book... the problem I have is that the author cites utterly unproven or entirely absurd "research" to support his ideas that DNA is some kind of quantum antenna to the life force of universal consciousness. For instance, he off-handedly mentions a Chinese experiment where blindfolded children managed to teleport small objects with their minds. Could you imagine the revolution in science there would be if such a thing actually happened? It worries me that the author believes this "study" is true. He also cites white blood cells that have some kind of sympathetic bond with miles between them, so actions against one set of cells elicits a response in the others. I call BS on this, too. I'd be willing to bet any such simultaneous change is nothing more than randomness being studied by people who have very loose standards guarding against confirmation bias. He also states that telekinesis is a real thing. Well, no, it's not. Whenever it's been tested with some scrutiny, it's either been a scammer softly blowing on an object or using magnets. In short, it's a magic trick. Like I said, I find the notion of some kind of "consciousness field" to be interesting, but his "proof" is based on the wildest of suppositions, although he wraps it in "quantum theory" -- the latest buzz phrase to explain all manners of magical thinking -- but quantum objects doing "spooky" things does not mean consciousness is part of it. The writer's line of thinking is "since it's unknown, it must support my suppositions." Bad science. Really bad. I support scientifically studying whether consciousness can exist outside the body. It's fascinating and I'd really like it to be true -- but there is no proof. He points to the government project for remote viewing as some kind of evidence, but I've studied that project too; it's not all that. Their results were overwhelmingly poor and the few "good" hits were done under very dubious conditions. The good hits you've heard of came at the very end of their tenure, so after they knew they might not get funded for another year. A little suspicious. And the men running it weren't the strictest scientists and managed to be funded for so long because the government mostly ignored them and their budget was relatively tiny for the Defense department. Sorry for so many words, but the short of it is that the writer comes across as a man of science and critical thinking, but he is too quick to believe ridiculous claims because it serves his thesis that consciousness is a field accessed by living things. This book isn't science; it's dubious speculation.

A very fine treatise from a respected cardiologist; whom offers insights, anecdotes, critical analysis and opinion on the ubiquitous phenomenon known as the Near Death Experience or "NDE" for short. This work has a great deal of breadth and a more than sufficient amount of detail to thoroughly, although not exhaustively, examine this intriguing, if not beguiling, existential conundrum. Dr. Van Lommel has produced a well written, edited and sagacious book that offers compelling evidence for the near certainty that consciousness is in fact: non-local, ever present and timeless (owing to the implied conditions of non-local space.) In a very superficial manner, this piece could (and will) be labeled as being somewhat ad hoc. "Superficial" is the operative word in the preceding sentence. As Van Lommel is keen to point out in his book, 97% of the governing body of scientists - i.e., those that oversee the dispersal of research grants, review scientific papers etc. - are of the materialist/reductionist variety. Therefore, it is a foregone conclusion that much more research needs to be done in this venue of cutting edge science. In a certain respect "ad hoc" science is the best science as it is not afraid of posing intricate and delicate questions nor offering what may be considered fanciful answers; "ad hoc" in my humble opinion, is synonymous with open-minded, unbiased and employs what should be the motto of any good scientist, that being: "what if?" In conclusion, I highly recommend this book as it is informative, practical and exceptionally well thought-out and presented. Good stuff!! 5 stars with ease.

A meticulously documented study into consciousness after official death as determined by modern medical science. Much more than the typical NDE (near death experience) book.

Los druidas ya decían que el alma precede al cuerpo y sigue existiendo a su manera después de la muerte. La novedad de este libro fue que un científico, el cardiólogo Dr. van Lommel confirmó la evidencia de esta realidad espiritual en términos de física cuántica ( no-localidad, entrelazamiento, ... ). Del estudio que él dirigió ( publicado el 2001 ) resultó que el 18% de pacientes entrevistados que estuvieron clínicamente muertos y luego revivieron, contó una "experiencia cercana a la muerte". La conclusión más llamativa que sacó el Dr. van Lommel al considerar estas percepciones especiales de la mente, fue que la conciencia es no-local, no se puede localizar en un tiempo o espacio particulares; es ilimitada y no depende de si el cerebro está en "on" o en "off". Entonces, los fenómenos de los cuales somos conscientes no pertenecerían a un tiempo o espacio determinados; propiamente están en la conciencia no-local ( la fuente no-dual de tanto los aspectos ordinarios de la conciencia como de los extraordinarios ). La mayoría de las "experiencias cercanas a la muerte" son luminosas, perfectas, felices ( ¿celestiales? ), pero en una pequeña proporción son oscuras, inquietantes ( ¿infernales? ). La muerte sin más no significa una liberación, puede resultar un fiasco si alguien muere con el peso de muchas emociones mal procesadas. Es un objetivo del libro dar a conocer la conciencia en su formal no-local y expandida. Este es un libro de ciencia, pionero y formidable de leer, sin embargo tiene su limitación; como el mismo autor dice, es imposible conocer el origen de la conciencia.

This is an excellent and fascinating book written by a leading cardiologist who is also an emergency room physician. He has drawn on much personal experience, and many verified accounts from experienced colleagues. This is one of the best books I have read on this subject, and carries a real message of hope for all those who have suffered the loss of a loved one

Very very interesting book regarding NDE and continuation of consciousness after death of body. Very convincing book about infinite continuity of mind. Worth a read.

I couldn’t let go of the first portion of this book: its many near-death-experience (NDE) accounts are fascinating and impressive. Quite interesting is how the author parallels near-death-experience reports with the beliefs of the five main world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: tying them in with ancient Greek philosophy as well. He also gives a few ancient NDE reports: a fifth-century-BCE account, an eighth-century-CE account, and three nineteenth-century-CE accounts. The author deals with the subject of consciousness holistically: that is, scientifically, subjectively, medically, and metaphysically. What I found very satisfying in this book is the fact that the author looks at both sides of the arguments for and against his views, even when his opponents are obnoxious toward him personally: most of the time, he gives satisfactory arguments. However, when the author tries to explain these subjective phenomena through ‘quantum mechanics,’ I found it hard work—somewhat boring and unconvincing—despite my bachelor’s degree in physics. Although the book is extremely well researched, the author graciously admits that “the questions continue to outnumber the answers.” (p. 259) I also found the book’s glossary extremely helpful for revisiting (while reading) medical and technical terms that I wasn’t too familiar with. Near Death Experiences: Surprisingly, the author informs us, “Fairly recent studies in the United States [in 1982] and Germany [in 1999] suggest that approximately 4.2 percent of the population has reported an NDE.” (p. 9) That’s excluding under-reporting because of self-embarrassment; not to mention that frightful NDEs are more often than not (understandably) unreported. In fact, people who had a near-death experience stop telling it to others because the latter usually think they were hallucinating. In other words, NDEs are not that uncommon as one might think. NDEs, the author explains, “are reported not just by people on the brink of death … they are most frequently reported after a period in which brain function is seriously impaired, such as in a cardiac arrest. Other comparable clinical circumstances include brain damage and coma after a serious traffic accident or brain hemorrhage, unconsciousness through shock (low blood pressure) caused by severe blood loss during or after a delivery, or following complications during surgery. Near-drowning is a well-known trigger in children. Other causes include asphyxiation and serious but not immediately life-threatening illness with high fever. These experiences are also reported during isolation, depression, or without any clear medical indication during walks in the countryside or during meditation.” (p. 8) The author then aptly argues, “The [most] frequently cited argument that an NDE is caused by oxygen deficiency in the brain obviously does not apply to people who experience one during depression or isolation.” (p. 9) Likewise, throughout the book, the author debunks most (if not all) of the scientists’ objections to NDEs—one by one. The most common elements in an NDE account are : (1) indescribability, (2) peace, no pain, (3) death awareness, (4) out-of-body experience (local & remote), (5) dark space (often frightening), pinpoint of light, fast tunnel travel, (6) beautiful unearthly environment, (7) deceased relatives, speechless communication, (8) being of light, unconditional love, deep knowledge, (9) life review, no time or distance, (10) future preview, (11) limiting border, (12) return to body. (pp. 11–12) Only some of these are experienced in any NDE. An ‘out-of-body experience’ (OBE) is basically a separation of mind and body. The author concludes, “The experience of a very lucid consciousness at a moment when all brain function has ceased raises important questions about the relationship between consciousness and the brain.” (p. 9) Somewhat unconvincing, to me, is a few near-death-experiencers’ claim of an ability to foretell the future. According to the author, “People feel like they can see part of the life that is yet to come. … The reports of the verifiable future events inevitably raise questions about free will and the extent to which people can determine their own future.” (p. 38) However, in his book ‘The Universe in a Nutshell,’ (p. 107) theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking writes the following regarding Heisenberg’s ‘uncertainty principle’: “We cannot even suppose that [a] particle has a position and velocity that are known to God but are hidden to us. … Even God is bound by the uncertainty principle and cannot know [both] the position and velocity [simultaneously]; He can only know the wave function [probability].” It is this uncertainty principle which is the basis of our free will: otherwise everything would be predetermined. God so constructed our world that we can exercise free will. So I contend that he does not really know the future, especially where we are concerned—let alone people knowing the future, then. Moreover, personally, I find it hard to believe that following an NDE some possess healing powers and paranormal qualities. (pp. 60–61) I could be wrong, of course, but I think these portions of the book, unfortunately, undermine its credibility, somewhat. Consciousness: The author seems to think that our consciousness is located somewhere in ‘nonlocal space’ remote from us, somewhat like the airwaves from radio and television stations, to which every person possesses the ‘tuning frequency.’ In the book’s introduction, he writes, “Our brain may be compared both to a television set, receiving information from electromagnetic fields and decoding this into sound and vision, and to a television camera, converting or encoding sound and vision into electromagnetic waves. … The function of the brain can be compared to a transceiver [i.e., transmitter-receiver].” (p. xvii) I think this is the most revealing concept of the entire book. The author never mentions God (who is possibly the ‘transmitting station’), of course, because the subtitle of his book is ‘The Science of Near-Death Experience.’ Most scientists bend over backwards to separate God from science; yet, according to self-declared atheist Richard Dawkins, whether God exists or not is a scientific question. In his book ‘The God Delusion’ (p. 82), Dawkins writes, “The presence or absence of a creative super-intelligence is unequivocally a scientific question, even if it is not in practice—or not yet—a decided one.” And I happen to agree with Dawkins in this concept. My take is that God has access to our consciousness, instantaneously, through the scientifically proven physical process of ‘entanglement’ (see p. 218). In this respect, I think the book is somewhat disappointing: the author should have been bolder rather than resort to ‘nonlocal space’ and its associated ‘quantum mechanics.’ The author also opines, “The origins of consciousness are and will probably remain a mystery forever.” (p. 290) I think this is somewhat of a defeatist attitude. There were scientists in the past who believed we could never learn anything about the stars because they are too far away from us; yet we learnt quite a bit about them in the last few decades. Somewhat surprisingly, the author also writes, “Consciousness predates our birth and our body and will survive death independently of our body in a nonlocal space where time and distance play no role. There is no beginning, and there will never be an end to our consciousness.” (p. 307) I can relate to there being no end to our consciousness, but I simply cannot see why it would have no beginning: unless he wants to accommodate those religions that believe in reincarnation. I think it’s logical to assume that consciousness starts at the moment of conception, at best—not earlier. Moreover, apart from the ‘First Cause’ (i.e., God or matter), everything has a beginning, even the universe according to the ‘big bang’ theory. Much More: The book deals with many more observed and/or reported phenomena, which I don’t have space to discuss in this short review: “fear-death experiences, identical experiences triggered by despair, depression, isolation, meditation (religious and mystical experiences), and total relaxation (experiences of enlightenment or unity), as well as experiences prompted by regression therapy and the use of mind-expanding substances such as LSD or DMT, deathbed visions, perimortem and postmortem experiences, enhanced intuitive sensitivity or nonlocal information exchange, nonlocal perception, and the influence of mind on matter (nonlocal perturbation [and neuroplasticity]).” (p. 328) I’ll leave all that for the reader to discover and savor. Medical Ethics: The author finally raises a current ethical concern; he writes, “With the technical expertise to transplant organs … came the problem of obtaining suitable organs.” (p. 321) So, the medical profession felt it must relax the then-current definition of ‘death.’ The author continues, “Long term irreversible coma [was] called death [‘brain death’], thus creating the possibility to obtain transplant organs from [so called] ‘dead’ patients.” (p. 321) With the introduction of coronary care units and subsequent improvements in resuscitation techniques, the reporting of near-death experiences increasing exponentially became an eye-opener: “what to make of the many reports of consciousness during a period of coma with demonstrable loss of brain function?” (p. 321) The author states, “Life and death can never overlap …. It is scientifically impossible to determine exactly when all life has left the body. The process of dying lasts between hours and days, takes a different course for everybody, and takes places at organ level down to cellular and subcellular level, with different processes and rates of disintegration for each system. Besides, when brain death is diagnosed, nearly 100 percent [96%, p. 322] of the body is still alive.” (p. 323) Under coma, some patients “can last for years in exceptional cases” (p. 321). The author aptly observes, “The fact that ‘dead’ patients can bear living children also calls for reflection.” (p. 324) Indeed, Plato’s fifth-century-BCE account of the soldier Er in ‘The Republic’ states he was thought dead for twelve days before ‘returning’ to life. (p. 97) Conclusion: In his introduction to the book, the author rightly laments, “Most scientists are still trying to reconcile theory and facts within the routinely accepted (materialist) paradigm … essentially a collection of articles of faith shared by scientists. … Results that cannot be accounted for by the prevailing worldview are labelled ‘anomalies’ because they threaten the existing paradigm. … Such anomalies are initially overlooked, ignored, rejected as aberrations, or even ridiculed. Near-death experiences are such anomalies.” (p. xiv) Notice especially the phrase “articles of faith.” “The history of science,” the author points out, “tells us a similar story.” (p. 312) Despite what scientists might currently think, in my opinion, this book is a scientific ground-breaking book on our consciousness. In the epilogue, the author opines that it’s “no more than a springboard for further study.” (p. 327) Perhaps! But I compare it to Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of Species’ in its originality. The future will tell whether I’m right.