Edgar, You wrote: "The world we think we live in is ENTIRELY A PRODUCT OF OUR MIND."
Gee, that kind of sounds like syllogism to me...;>) ...Bill! --- In [email protected], Edgar Owen <edgarowen@...> wrote: > > Varamtha, > > OBE's become very simple to understand once you understand that the mind > generates its own reality. The world we think we live in is ENTIRELY A > PRODUCT OF OUR MIND. > > Part of the structure of that simulated mental world is the mind placing the > experience of the self INSIDE the physical body in the first place. That is a > mentally constructed part of the illusion. > > When this is understood it's trivial to understand why the mind might want to > relocate the experience of the self OUTSIDE the physical body when the > physical body is in extreme distress. > > Self inside or outside of the physical body. EITHER WAY it's a constructed > ILLUSION of mind. > > > I had a strong OBE myself in Japan in the mountains of Iya district when the > car I was in skidded towards the edge of very high cliff and ended up with > the front bumper hanging over the edge. > > Edgar > > > > On May 25, 2013, at 7:37 AM, varamtha@... wrote: > > > New science is shedding light on what really happens during out-of-body > > experiences -- with shocking results. > > By Mario Beauregard > > > > http://www.salon.com/2012/04/21/near_death_explained/ > > > > This article was adapted from the new book "Brain Wars", from Harper One. > > > > In 1991, Atlanta-based singer and songwriter Pam Reynolds felt extremely > > dizzy, lost her ability to speak, and had difficulty moving her body. A CAT > > scan showed that she had a giant artery aneurysma grossly swollen blood > > vessel in the wall of her basilar artery, close to the brain stem. If it > > burst, which could happen at any moment, it would kill her. But the > > standard surgery to drain and repair it might kill her too. > > > > With no other options, Pam turned to a last, desperate measure offered by > > neurosurgeon Robert Spetzler at the Barrow Neurological Institute in > > Phoenix, Arizona. Dr. Spetzler was a specialist and pioneer in hypothermic > > cardiac arresta daring surgical procedure nicknamed "Operation > > Standstill." Spetzler would bring Pam's body down to a temperature so low > > that she was essentially dead. Her brain would not function, but it would > > be able to survive longer without oxygen at this temperature. The low > > temperature would also soften the swollen blood vessels, allowing them to > > be operated on with less risk of bursting. When the procedure was complete, > > the surgical team would bring her back to a normal temperature before > > irreversible damage set in. > > > > Essentially, Pam agreed to die in order to save her lifeand in the process > > had what is perhaps the most famous case of independent corroboration of > > out of body experience (OBE) perceptions on record. This case is especially > > important because cardiologist Michael Sabom was able to obtain > > verification from medical personnel regarding crucial details of the > > surgical intervention that Pam reported. Here's what happened. > > > > Pam was brought into the operating room at 7:15 a.m., she was given general > > anesthesia, and she quickly lost conscious awareness. At this point, > > Spetzler and his team of more than 20 physicians, nurses, and technicians > > went to work. They lubricated Pam's eyes to prevent drying, and taped them > > shut. They attached EEG electrodes to monitor the electrical activity of > > her cerebral cortex. They inserted small, molded speakers into her ears and > > secured them with gauze and tape. The speakers would emit repeated > > 100-decibel clicksapproximately the noise produced by a speeding express > > traineliminating outside sounds and measuring the activity of her > > brainstem. > > > > At 8:40 a.m., the tray of surgical instruments was uncovered, and Robert > > Spetzler began cutting through Pam's skull with a special surgical saw that > > produced a noise similar to a dental drill. At this moment, Pam later said, > > she felt herself "pop" out of her body and hover above it, watching as > > doctors worked on her body. > > > > Although she no longer had use of her eyes and ears, she described her > > observations in terms of her senses and perceptions. "I thought the way > > they had my head shaved was very peculiar," she said. "I expected them to > > take all of the hair, but they did not." She also described the Midas Rex > > bone saw ("The saw thing that I hated the sound of looked like an electric > > toothbrush and it had a dent in it ") and the dental-drill sound it made > > with considerable accuracy. > > > > Meanwhile, Spetzler was removing the outermost membrane of Pamela's brain, > > cutting it open with scissors. At about the same time, a female cardiac > > surgeon was attempting to locate the femoral artery in Pam's right groin. > > Remarkably, Pam later claimed to remember a female voice saying, "We have a > > problem. Her arteries are too small." And then a male voice: "Try the other > > side." Medical records confirm this conversation, yet Pam could not have > > heard them. > > > > The cardiac surgeon was rightPam's blood vessels were indeed too small to > > accept the abundant blood flow requested by the cardiopulmonary bypass > > machine, so at 10:50 a.m., a tube was inserted into Pam's left femoral > > artery and connected to the cardiopulmonary bypass machine. The warm blood > > circulated from the artery into the cylinders of the bypass machine, where > > it was cooled down before being returned to her body. Her body temperature > > began to fall, and at 11:05 a.m. Pam's heart stopped. Her EEG brain waves > > flattened into total silence. A few minutes later, her brain stem became > > totally unresponsive, and her body temperature fell to a sepulchral 60 > > degrees Fahrenheit. At 11:25 a.m., the team tilted up the head of the > > operating table, turned off the bypass machine, and drained the blood from > > her body. Pamela Reynolds was clinically dead. > > > > At this point, Pam's out-of-body adventure transformed into a near-death > > experience (NDE): She recalls floating out of the operating room and > > traveling down a tunnel with a light. She saw deceased relatives and > > friends, including her long-dead grandmother, waiting at the end of this > > tunnel. She entered the presence of a brilliant, wonderfully warm and > > loving light, and sensed that her soul was part of God and that everything > > in existence was created from the light (the breathing of God). But this > > extraordinary experience ended abruptly, as Reynolds's deceased uncle led > > her back to her bodya feeling she described as "plunging into a pool of > > ice." > > > > Meanwhile, in the operating room, the surgery had come to an end. When all > > the blood had drained from Pam's brain, the aneurysm simply collapsed and > > Spetzler clipped it off. Soon, the bypass machine was turned on and warm > > blood was pumped back into her body. As her body temperature started to > > increase, her brainsteam began to respond to the clicking speakers in her > > ears and the EEG recorded electrical activity in the cortex. The bypass > > machine was turned off at 12:32 p.m. Pam's life had been restored, and she > > was taken to the recovery room in stable condition at 2:10 p.m. > > > > Tales of otherworldly experiences have been part of human cultures > > seemingly forever, but NDEs as such first came to broad public attention in > > 1975 by way of American psychiatrist and philosopher Raymond Moody's > > popular book Life After Life. He presented more than 100 case studies of > > people who experienced vivid mental experiences close to death or during > > "clinical death" and were subsequently revived to tell the tale. Their > > experiences were remarkably similar, and Moody coined the term NDE to refer > > to this phenomenon. The book was popular and controversial, and scientific > > investigation of NDEs began soon after its publication with the founding, > > in 1978, of the International Association for Near Death Studies > > (IANDS)the first organization in the world devoted to the scientific study > > of NDEs and their relationship to mind and consciousness. > > > > NDEs are the vivid, realistic, and often deeply life-changing experiences > > of men, women, and children who have been physiologically or > > psychologically close to death. They can be evoked by cardiac arrest and > > coma caused by brain damage, intoxication, or asphyxia. They can also > > happen following such events as electrocution, complications from surgery, > > or severe blood loss during or after a delivery. They can even occur as the > > result of accidents or illnesses in which individuals genuinely fear they > > might die. Surveys conducted in the United States and Germany suggest that > > approximately 4.2 percent of the population has reported an NDE. It has > > also been estimated that more than 25 million individuals worldwide have > > had an NDE in the past 50 years. > > > > People from all walks of life and belief systems have this experience. > > Studies indicate that the experience of an NDE is not influenced by gender, > > race, socioeconomic status, or level of education. Although NDEs are > > sometimes presented as religious experiences, this seems to be a matter of > > individual perception. Furthermore, researchers have found no relationship > > between religion and the experience of an NDE. That is, it did not matter > > whether the people recruited in those studies were Catholic, Protestant, > > Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, atheist, or agnostic. > > > > Although the details differ, NDEs are characterized by a number of core > > features. Perhaps the most vivid is the OBE: the sense of having left one's > > body and of watching events going on around one's body or, occasionally, at > > some distant physical location. During OBEs, near-death experiencers > > (NDErs) are often astonished to discover that they have retained > > consciousness, perception, lucid thinking, memory, emotions, and their > > sense of personal identity. If anything, these processes are heightened: > > Thinking is vivid; hearing is sharp; and vision can extend to 360 degrees. > > NDErs claim that without physical bodies, they are able to penetrate > > through walls and doors and project themselves wherever they want. They > > frequently report the ability to read people's thoughts. > > > > The effects of NDEs on the experience are intense, overwhelming, and real. > > A number of studies conducted in United States, Western European countries, > > and Australia have shown that most NDErs are profoundly and positively > > transformed by the experience. One woman says, "I was completely altered > > after the accident. I was another person, according to those who lived near > > me. I was happy, laughing, appreciated little things, joked, smiled a lot, > > became friends with everyone so completely different than I was before!" > > > > However different their personalities before the NDE, experiencers tend to > > share a similar psychological profile after the NDE. Indeed, their beliefs, > > values, behaviors, and worldviews seem quite comparable afterward. > > Importantly, these psychological and behavioral changes are not the kind of > > changes one would expect if this experience were a hallucination. And, as > > noted NDE researcher Pim van Lommel and his colleagues have demonstrated, > > these changes become more apparent with the passage of time. > > > > Some skeptics legitimately argue that the main problem with reports of OBE > > perceptions is that they often rest uniquely on the NDEr's testimonythere > > is no independent corroboration. From a scientific perspective, such > > self-reports remain inconclusive. But during the last few decades, some > > self-reports of NDErs have been independently corroborated by witnesses, > > such as that of Pam Reynolds. One of the best known of these corroborated > > veridical NDE perceptions—perceptions that can be proven to coincide > > with realityis the experience of a woman named Maria, whose case was first > > documented by her critical care social worker, Kimberly Clark. > > > > Maria was a migrant worker who had a severe heart attack while visiting > > friends in Seattle. She was rushed to Harborview Hospital and placed in the > > coronary care unit. A few days later, she had a cardiac arrest but was > > rapidly resuscitated. The following day, Clark visited her. Maria told > > Clark that during her cardiac arrest she was able to look down from the > > ceiling and watch the medical team at work on her body. At one point in > > this experience, said Maria, she found herself outside the hospital and > > spotted a tennis shoe on the ledge of the north side of the third floor of > > the building. She was able to provide several details regarding its > > appearance, including the observations that one of its laces was stuck > > underneath the heel and that the little toe area was worn. Maria wanted to > > know for sure whether she had "really" seen that shoe, and she begged Clark > > to try to locate it. > > > > Quite skeptical, Clark went to the location described by Mariaand found > > the tennis shoe. From the window of her hospital room, the details that > > Maria had recounted could not be discerned. But upon retrieval of the shoe, > > Clark confirmed Maria's observations. "The only way she could have had such > > a perspective," said Clark, "was if she had been floating right outside and > > at very close range to the tennis shoe. I retrieved the shoe and brought it > > back to Maria; it was very concrete evidence for me." > > > > This case is particularly impressive given that during cardiac arrest, the > > flow of blood to the brain is interrupted. When this happens, the brain's > > electrical activity (as measured with EEG) disappears after 10 to 20 > > seconds. In this state, a patient is deeply comatose. Because the brain > > structures mediating higher mental functions are severely impaired, such > > patients are expected to have no clear and lucid mental experiences that > > will be remembered. Nonetheless, studies conducted in the Netherlands, > > United Kingdom, and United States have revealed that approximately 15 > > percent of cardiac arrest survivors do report some recollection from the > > time when they were clinically dead. These studies indicate that > > consciousness, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings can be experienced > > during a period when the brain shows no measurable activity. > > > > NDEs experienced by people who do not have sight in everyday life are quite > > intriguing. In 1994, researchers Kenneth Ring and Sharon Cooper decided to > > undertake a search for cases of NDE-based perception in the blind. They > > reasoned that such cases would represent the ultimate demonstration of > > veridical perceptions during NDEs. If a blind person was able to report on > > verifiable events that took place when they were clinically dead, that > > would mean something real was occurring. They interviewed 31 individuals, > > of whom 14 were blind from birth. Twenty-one of the participants had had an > > NDE; the others had had OBEs only. Strikingly, the experiences they > > reported conform to the classic NDE pattern, whether they were born blind > > or had lost their sight in later life. The results of the study were > > published in 1997. Based on all the cases they investigated, Ring and > > Cooper concluded that what happens during an NDE affords another > > perspective to perceive reality that does not depend on the senses of the > > physical body. They proposed to call this other mode of perception > > mindsight. > > > > Despite corroborated reports, many materialist scientists cling to the > > notion that OBEs and NDEs are located in the brain. In 2002, neurologist > > Olaf Blanke and colleagues at the University Hospitals of Geneva and > > Lausanne in Switzerland described in the prestigious scientific journal > > Nature the strange occurrence that happened to a 43-year-old female patient > > with epilepsy. Because her seizures could not be controlled by medication > > alone, neurosurgery was being considered as the next step. The researchers > > implanted electrodes in her right temporal lobe to provide information > > about the localization and extent of the epileptogenic zonethe area of the > > brain that was causing the seizureswhich had to be surgically removed. > > Other electrodes were implanted to identify and localize, by means of > > electrical stimulation, the areas of the brain thatif removedwould result > > in loss of sensory capacities, linguistic ability, or even paralysis. Such > > a procedure is particularly critical to spare important brain areas that > > are adjacent to the epileptogenic zone. > > > > When they stimulated the angular gyrusa region of the brain in the > > parietal lobe that is thought to integrate sensory information related to > > vision, touch, and balance to give us a perception of our own bodiesthe > > patient reported seeing herself "lying in bed, from above, but I only see > > my legs and lower trunk." She described herself as "floating" near the > > ceiling. She also reported seeing her legs "becoming shorter." > > > > The article received global press coverage and created quite a commotion. > > The editors of Nature went so far as to declare triumphantly that as a > > result of this one studywhich involved only one patientthe part of the > > brain that can induce OBEs had been located. > > > > "It's another blow against those who believe that the mind and spirit are > > somehow separate from the brain," said psychologist Michael Shermer, > > director of the Skeptics Society, which seeks to debunk all kinds of > > paranormal claims. "In reality, all experience is derived from the brain." > > > > In another article published in 2004, Blanke and co-workers described six > > patients, of whom three had experienced an atypical and incomplete OBE. > > Four patients reported an autoscopythat is, they saw their own double from > > the vantage point of their own body. In this paper, the researchers > > describe an OBE as a temporary dysfunction of the junction of the temporal > > and parietal cortex. But, as Pim van Lommel noted, the abnormal bodily > > experiences described by Blanke and colleagues entail a false sense of > > reality. > > Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel > > > > ------------------------------------ > > > > Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are > > reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! 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