Nobody knows what happens when you die. There are plenty of theories, but no proof of anything. Do we ascend to join the angels of Heaven, or is it just one bleak, eternal void of nothingness? We won't know until we're dead, by which time it'll be too late.
Or will we? Dr Eben Alexander - a brain surgeon and author of the book Living In A Mindful Universe: A Neurosurgeon's Journey Into The Heart Of Consciousness - has told of being in a coma for a week in 2008 and the things he experienced.
In the book, which was published earlier this year, Alexander describes how he felt there was something in the great beyond and that he claims to now have a deeper understanding of life and what comes after it.
Credit: Living In A Mindful Universe: A Neurosurgeon's Journey Into The Heart Of Consciousness
In the book he writes: "I was in a coma for a week, suffering from meningoencephalitis - a brain infection - of such severity that my odds of survival were estimated at 2%. After a week, my doctors gravely told my family that it was time to let me die."
Now 63 years old, Alexander was then placed on a ventilator, at which point he says a 'light came slowly down from above'. He's not talking, presumably, about surgical lights.
"It was a circular entity, emitting heavily music that I called the Spinning Melody," the description continues. "The light opened up like a rip. And I felt myself going through the rip, up into a valley of lush and fertile greenery, where waterfalls glowed into crystal pools.
"There were clouds, like marshmallow puffs of pink and white. Behind them, the sky was a rich blue-back, with trees, fields and animals and people.
"There was water, too, flowing in rivers or descending as rain. Mists rose from the pulsing surfaces of these waters and fish glided beneath them."
Of course, none of that is proof, even if Alexander has taught brain science at Harvard Medical School. Still the surgeon does believe that the evidence of an afterlife is increasing. Because he pretty much said so: "The evidence for near-death experiences is overwhelming. But the evidence for how they occur is virtually non-existent."
Still, it could all be a clever marketing ploy to sell his book. After all, Alexander is also the author of the bestselling Proof Of Heaven, which pretty much does what it says on the tin. Except prove it.
Featured Image Credit: PixabayTopics: World News, Hospital