Ep 128: The Near-Death Experience Part 1
Above painting is a panel titled Ascent of the Blessed from a polyptych by Hieronymus Bosch made between 1505 and 1515. It’s one of four panels collectively titled, Visions of the Hereafter. It is in the Gallerie dell'Accademia, in Venice, Italy. The others are Terrestrial Paradise, Fall of the Damned into Hell and Hell.
Death in itself is nothing; but we fear
To be we know not what, we know not where.
John Dryden, Aurengzebe, Act IV, scene 1
Background:
The question that every one of us has at least wondered about at some point in our lives, is not if UFOs and aliens exist, or where's Bigfoot, or even if ghosts are real (although that question is connected) but a question about the biggest mystery of all: "What happens to us after we die?" You may not care about the other unknowns, but death comes for us all, and whether or not there's an afterlife, we'll all know in due time. It's the grandest question there is, because it may lead to all other answers. Any evidence of an afterlife may seem beyond our view to most of us; however, there seems to be a great abundance of credible accounts from people who may have seen a glimpse of what awaits us on the Other Side. These people have either been in a state of "Clinical Death" or some unusual physical circumstance and upon recovering, claim to have experienced something known as a Near-Death Experience, or, an "NDE." Tonight, we sit down with our good friend, screenwriter Richard Hatem, who has studied the subject extensively, to discuss the fascinating and distinctive characteristics of the phenomenon. In Part One of our two-part series, we first look at the researchers, definitions and a few case studies of the NDE. Before you think you can dismiss these numerous anecdotes as coming only from a particular type of attention seeker, consider that these testimonies come from the believer, the agnostic and the atheistic alike, from people of all faiths and walks of life, with stories of striking similarity from every culture, and going back to when people first started dying. These Experiencers were all profoundly affected, their lives changed, and the commonalities of their experiences would suggest that this ultimate truth doesn't care what you believe, and indeed a reality beyond the one we know does exist.
Suggested Viewing:
Watch the show Rich Hatem is currently writing for, DC TITANS!!
https://www.dcuniverse.com/videos/titans/164/season-1
Reference Links:
“The Near-Death Experience: A Reality Check?” Article & PDF from ResearchGate.net
“Leaving Body and Life Behind: Out-of-Body and Near-Death Experience –
Olaf Blanke, Nathan Faivre, Sebastian Dieguez, Published 2009”
“Blanca A NDE” story from NDERF – the Near-Death Experience Foundation
Turritopsis dohrnii, also known as “The Immortal Jellyfish” or the Japanese Scarlet Jellyfish
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http://darkmyths.org/
CREDITS:
Episode 128: The Near-Death Experience Part 1. Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel; Ryan McCullough and John Bolen Sound Design; Research Assistance by Tess Pfeifle and the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a.k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2018 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.