"What does heaven look like?"
‘Our consciousness doesn’t need our body to exist. That is the conclusion of advanced scientific research of Near Death Experiences (NDEs). That is why I start this book with an overview of the scientific research of NDEs. From this research it becomes clear that these experiences are more than real for the one who has them and that apart from positive experiences also negative ones exist. Based on all this scientific research it is just a small step to conclude that life continues after our death. To my opinion all NDEs give us an insight into what happens during the first moments after our death. Interesting is that people who have had a NDE seem to get an answer to the question what the purpose is of their life on earth. The experiences also seem to contain a message about how we should live, what we should do with our life and what we rather shouldn’t do.
That brings me to the second part of my book. With the answers to this kind of questions NDErs then come onto the domain of religions. Religions not only claim to have the answers to these kind of spiritual questions, but also pretend to have a monopoly to the truth. Whether that is correct, I examine for five major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In five chapters it is indicated what the essence is of each of these. It is also indicated which are the parallels with the NDEs, but also where the different religions are off the track. The analysis of those parallels and differences is what I want to add to all the existing literature in the area of NDEs.
The reason why NDEs are compared with religions is that many NDErs feel closer to God or the Light. Also many years after the experience they still feel the direct contact with Him. For this reason they have a strong longing for religious matters, however in general they also have less interest in the formal sides of religions. A statement often heard is that in essence all religions are the same.
That made me focus on the essences. By combining these, I feel like someone who brings together the blind men in an Indian folk story. In that story six blind men, who had never seen an elephant, were positioned at six different sides of an elephant. Each of them was allowed to touch the elephant and, after that, each of them had a different idea of what an elephant is. One thinks it is a flexible hose, another that it is a fan, the third thinks it is a pillar, and so on. Each was right for just a small part, but they didn’t combine their insights.
An example of a parallel with the NDEs is, that it is difficult to describe the Light or the light environment. The Light is more real than anything else we see here on earth. That is also heard in what all religions state, except Christianity and Buddhism: don’t make a representation of God, because it is bound to be in vain. However, in two religions, Hinduism and Islam, it is allowed to describe Brahman and Allah with words. For that purpose it is only allowed to use beautiful words. In this way there are the 99 majestic names of Allah and the many dozens of magnificent descriptions of Brahman (by the way: Hinduism can actually be seen as a monotheistic religion, because Brahman encompasses everything).
In the concluding chapter, all found parallels with NDEs are mentioned. Some parallels only apply to one religion, for instance that we all are a little part of God (“each of us is like a grain of sand on the beach, while God is the whole beach”), or that everyone has his own task. Other parallels are applicable to all examined religions, like the necessity to love everyone and that everything we have done will be registered down to the smallest detail.
Eventually, from my search, a picture emerges of something splendid awaiting us. We are all a little part of something tremendously big and everyone has the possibility to see the Light after our death and to arrive in the light environment. Whether we actually arrive there, seems to depend on ourselves, especially on our love for all and everyone, which we can practise while on earth.