Doctor Who Experienced Afterlife Says It Was Like Plato’s World of Ideals

Greek Reporter ^ | July 9, 2023 | James Ssengendo

[nickcarraway]

Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon doctor who claims to have experienced the afterlife during a seven-day coma, says the experience was like Plato’s world of ideals.

In 2008, Dr. Eben Alexander went into a coma after catching an acute bacterial infection that had a severe neurological impact on his brain. For seven days, he lay unconscious. When he awoke, he described seeing a beautiful spiritual guide on a butterfly wing that took him through a wormhole.

Sharing his story with the U.S. Sun, Dr. Alexander described a land of “beautiful very lush forests and meadow waterfalls into crystal blue pools, absolutely spectacular.”

Before fully detailing what his spiritual guide looked like, the neurosurgeon referred to the theory of Plato, the Greek philosopher who asserted that the physical world is not really the ‘real’ world. On the contrary, ultimate reality exists beyond our physical world.

In his words, “It was kind of like Plato’s world of ideals,” adding “It was a world of perfection.”

Grecian Delight supports Greece Afterlife experience for the doctor After Dr. Alexander’s amazing experience while in a coma, dubbed “Gateway Valley,” he authored the book Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey and dedicated his life to proving the existence of heaven.

Dr. Alexander made it clear to the US Sun that recent medical reports show that his mind was “in no shape to have any dream or hallucination.” Even so, he still miraculously managed to experience a life-changing encounter.

While in the coma that had him fighting for his life. he began seeing dark images that sounded pretty haunting. Nevertheless, he recalls not being afraid of the experience although he noted that while describing to people what heaven was like, they would not find it a very pleasant place.

In talking about what he witnessed, he recounted how he was surrounded by unformed blackness and had “no memory” of his own life. Luckily, however, he was saved by a “white light” that came up along with a “perfect musical melody.”

Alexander recalled that “all that ushered me up through this wormhole, or light portal, up into the Gateway Valley, as I call it.”

The presence of “pure love,” he stated, “had “sparkling blue eyes, high cheekbones, high forehead and broad smile” although she didn’t speak a word.

Describing the spiritual guide to his final destination, ‘the core,’ he says he was filled with messages of pure unadulterated love while he rode on a butterfly wing.

On his website, the doctor describes his journey to the “unending inky blackness” of ‘the core’ and hearing angelic choirs’ with thundering hymns further away. He stated that after exiting the wormhole, he witnessed a “perfect” world with some “earthly features.”

God’s presence in Plato’s world of ideals Alexander claimed in his book that there was a deity known by many as God, but the entity could not be defined.

He wrote, “Allah, Vishnu, Jehovah, Yahweh—the names get in the way, and the conflicting details of orthodox religions obscure the reality of such an infinitely loving and creative source.”

The doctor also told the U.S. Sun that, during his week-long coma, he passed through multiple levels, always receiving the same message that “you are deeply loved and cherished forever, [and] you have nothing to fear.”

Although Dr. Alexander was adopted and was raised as a Methodist, he began to question religion when he began studying at Harvard. Be that as it may, it was only after after his birth parents rejected him and he tried to reconnect with them as an adult that he officially gave up on religion and became agnostic.

He said, “I just could not figure out how conscious awareness could survive the death of the brain and body. That was a big mystery to me, and that’s why I think I went through this extraordinary journey.”

Luckily, eight years later, right before his NDE, he eventually met his family and was hugged for the first time after receiving a positive response when he reached out to them again.

“I cannot tell you how powerful an experience that was, but that was really the beginning,” he declared.

Reflecting on his revelation of supposedly seeing God, the doctor said, “The deep reality is that any religion focuses absolutely on unconditional love, complete inclusion of all, no exclusion, kindness, mercy, acceptance, and forgiveness.”

He now perceives religion as something that should unite all people and firmly believes that, if it doesn’t, it should be “discarded.”

Recovery from the afterlife The surgeon’s family was filled with shock at the new man they found when he woke up after seven days of fighting for his life and a coma filled with a collection of uncanny experiences.

Alexander shared his feelings saying, “I think it really scared my family tremendously. They’re all elated, but the first 36 hours I was in and out of my mind, kind of crazy at times.”

During the recovery process, Alexander said he spooked his sister by acting like a “little Buddha” in front of his loved ones.

“I was sitting on the bed like this little Buddha just saying, ‘All is well’ [and] looking everyone deeply in the eyes.” Yet, he noted that he now remembers none of that.

Despite the severity of the experience, which he claims at one point was “an irreversible death spiral”, Dr. Alexander miraculously recovered speciously defying all the odds.

Newfound belief in God and religion Alexander’s apparent interaction with death and heaven greatly transformed his relationship with religion and God. This was a miracle in and of itself, given that the reunion with his birth family was what had prompted him to give up on faith entirely just years prior to his NDE.

It was after his afterlife experience that the doctor urged people to prepare for death by advising them not to wait until the end to review their lives. Rather, he encouraged them to make every choice today in treating themselves and others with love and passion.

“This is not just about what happens when you die, but this is most importantly about how you make every choice today in treating yourself and treating others,” he said. “Don’t wait to do a life review at the end of your life. What a waste that is.”

Dr. Alexander proudly admits he is no longer scared of death. Instead, he is now making good use of every moment he has in his earthly life.

[Churchillspirit]

Very thought-provoking post. Thank you.

[tired&retired]

That is absolutely wonderful.

I invite the Holy Spirit into me daily in prayer.

Rejecting the Holy Spirit is the only unforgivable sin.

It is the “Helper Spirit.” It is Higher Consciousness coming to a lower level. I feel it, hear it, and see it as a Liquid Light.

I’ve watched it cleanse the souls of people who are dying when they pray.

🙏

[RoosterRedux]

I invite the Holy Spirit into me daily in prayer.

Same here. And I carry on a continuous conversation with Him.

[cgbg]

“If you look at a large number of these experiences, there is a lack of symmetry to the entire data set.”

From what I have read there is a pattern of “what you give is what you get”.

Christians see Christian figures and icons, Hindus see Hindu figures and icons etc.

My conclusion is that most folks are telling the truth to the best of their ability—this is another “phenomenon” where it is hard to figure out what is happening because of our own belief systems.

[RoosterRedux]

Dats true.

The lack of symmetry I mentioned mostly comes into play when atheists come back to life believing in a range of New Age-ish religions. There must be a tunnel of light just for Democrats.

[cgbg]

I have read a fair amount on this topic.

If you focus on the similarities there are some common themes from folks of a wide variety of belief systems:

—Floating above their bodies—being able to see things that they could not see from their lying down position
—White light and “tunnel”
—Greeted by “something”—religious icons, figures, loved ones, others
—Life review—successes and failures

More controversial is the claim by many they reincarnated in some form. This doctrine is controversial not just because it is opposed by many belief systems but because the alleged “rules” for reincarnation seem to vary widely and appear to be self-contradictory. For example some advocates claim you can reincarnate as animals or aliens on distant planets—other insist you must reincarnate as a human. If you pay close attention to the literature there is also the issue of whether reincarnation must be backwards or forwards in time or both.

[RoosterRedux]

Same here. Read a massive amount and watch a ton of video testimonies over the years. Frankly had a difficult time separating the wheat from the chaff (stuck mostly with accounts that could be corroborated by someone present at the time of the OBE--usually a doctor or nurse).

The thing that bugs me about these accounts is the lack of empirical/rational care on the part of the person experiencing the NDE and the paranormal aspects of the experience itself.

I realize the people experiencing the NDE's are just everyday people, but their lack of deductive reasoning makes their testimony suspect even if it might be true.

[RoosterRedux]

My conclusion is that most folks are telling the truth to the best of their ability—this is another “phenomenon” where it is hard to figure out what is happening because of our own belief systems.

I agree. I think most folks believe they telling the truth.

The problem I have is that they still may not be reliable witnesses given the extraordinary nature of these experiences.

[Reily]

Taking them as they are I find the remote viewing accounts the most intriguing. However, it’s all still anecdotal. How do you do any empirical testing? Ask for volunteers to do a Near-Death-Experience and come back under some sort of instrumentation? Not likely!

[cgbg]

I think the only area where you and I differ on this is I am not sure what a “reliable witness” could be in these types of situations.

Everybody brings their beliefs/prejudices to the table.

My view is that their experiences are as good as we are going to get from homo sapiens.

The concept of “objective analysis of what is really happening” is a myth imho.

[RoosterRedux]

Yep. At least remote viewing can best tested if done somewhat locally (instead of describing a locale in remote Russia). I think some of the work that Russell Targ did with Ingo Swann was carefully tested.

All this stuff is pretty outrageous so I leave room for disbelief.;-)

[RoosterRedux]

Well, I don't exactly know who would make a reliable witness either, but I usually start with corroboration by a doctor or nurse present when the NDE occurred (corroboration of something that the experiencer could not have seen--in the ER for example--without an OBE).

And then I weigh the language and descriptions used by the person who actually experienced the NDE (if they were analytical in their observations, for example, and used precise language instead of vague descriptions).

I am always suspicious when people try to "sell" their experiences.

[cgbg]

There are some hucksters out there for sure but given the very large number of NDEs out there the self-promoting fraudsters are a statistical anomaly and just noise in what is mostly signal.

[RoosterRedux]

The concept of “objective analysis of what is really happening” is a myth imho.

This is exactly what makes a good witness in a trial. A person whose testimony is the result of careful analysis and observation is deemed more reliable than that of a person who isn't.

It's pretty easy to tell the difference.

That said, a witness who sounds reliable still may be wrong...and a person who sounds unreliable may be correct. So there's that.

[RoosterRedux]

Very true. But there are also a great number of "nuts" out there who honestly believe they are telling the truth.

I am suspicious by nature.

[Zionist Conspirator]

Well that's stupid.

[SunkenCiv]

• Plato's Allegory of the Cave [FR keyword]
• NDE [FR keyword]
• neardeathexperience [FR keyword]

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[SunkenCiv]

A bunch of NDE-related keywords, sorted, duplicates out:

• Jane Seymour Saw 'White Light' During Near-Death Experience [04/17/2023]
• Death: how long are we conscious for and does life really flash before our eyes?...Death is still a mystery. [04/04/2023]
• Pioneering Quantum Physicists Win Nobel Prize in Physics [10/26/2022]
• The Brain Waves of a Dying Person Have Been Recorded in Detail For The First Time [02/24/2022]
• Life after death? Spooky study finds body keeps 'significantly moving' a year after death [03/30/2021]
• After Investigating 1,000 Near Death Experiences, This Author Came To The Conclusion That Life After Death Is Very Real [01/20/2020]
• I See Dead People: Dreams and Visions of the Dying [11/22/2019]
• 5 Runners Who Survived Sudden Cardiac Arrest Share What It Really Feels Like [11/15/2019]
• LIFE AFTER DEATH:When you die 'you KNOW you're dead because your brain keeps working'scientist claim [04/17/2019]
• A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE: BACK FROM THE BRINK [07/21/2018]
• Veteran tells of near-death experience in new book [01/29/2018]
• Virginia Student Paralyzed in Crash: 'Heaven Is Real. I'm Here for a Reason' [12/06/2017]
• An army in Heaven (hospice nurse on deathbed accounts) [05/20/2016]
• Woman Hears Family Saying Their Goodbyes, Fights to Communicate When Removed From Life Support [03/04/2016]
• Near-death experience, Many stories of those who tell of the phenomenon often don't reflect... [09/19/2015]
• What It's Like to Die, According to an ICU Nurse [05/25/2015]
• Texas Teen Says He Saw Jesus Before Being Revived [05/15/2015]
• 'Everything Is Ready Now': A Near-Death Experience [04/04/2015]
• The Science of Near-Death Experiences [03/17/2015]
• Dead For 48 minutes, Catholic Priest Claims God Is Female [02/20/2015]
• Boy Who Came Back From Heaven' actually didn't; books recalled [01/16/2015]
• Boy Who Claimed He Visited Heaven Reads Bible and Recants Story; LifeWay to Pull Book From Stores [01/16/2015]
• Boy Says He Didn't Go To Heaven; Publisher Says It Will Pull Book [01/15/2015]
• Beyond Goodbye: Are shared-death experiences real? [12/27/2014]
• Skydiver Has Visions of Afterlife Following Fiery Plane Crash [11/22/2014]
• FORMER MUSLIM ENCOUNTERS JESUS IN EXTRAORDINARY NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE [11/13/2014]
• Vanity - Have people of all religious faiths had near-death experiences? [11/12/2014]
• Florida mom who survived 45 minutes with no pulse describes near-death experience [11/11/2014]
• Scientists have found "hidden" brain activity that can indicate if a vegetative patient is aware [10/17/2014]
• Biggest Scientific Study Suggests Life after Death [10/14/2014]
• Life After Death: 'Near-Death Experience' Study Shows Awareness Continues After Brain Shutdown [10/07/2014]
• How Should Christians Think About Near-Death Experiences? [05/01/2014]
• 'Heaven Is for Real' Movie Generating Divided Christian Opinion [04/24/2014]
• THE FLIP SIDE OF 'HEAVEN IS FOR REAL' [04/17/2014]
• His Résumé Before the Age of 4: "I Saw Jesus on a Horse" [04/16/2014]
• Former religious skeptic believes she talked to God during the 9 minutes she was dead [10/27/2013]
• Electrical signatures of consciousness in the dying brain [08/26/2013]
• Near-death experiences are 'electrical surge in dying brain' [08/13/2013]
• What was your closest brush with death? [07/06/2013]
• Charlotte-born doctor talks about time in heaven [03/30/2013]
• Afterlife Exists Says Top Brain Surgeon [10/10/2012]
• Heaven Is Real: A Doctor's Experience With the Afterlife [10/08/2012]
• Life after life? This Wyoming surgeon says she believes [06/02/2012]
• Atheist Professor's Near-Death Experience in Hell Left Him Changed [03/13/2012]
• 'I Was Dead For 4 Minutes' (near death experience in MD) [10/19/2011]
• Near-Death Experiences: 30 Years of Research - A neurosurgeon's perspective [10/16/2011]
• Near-Death Experiences: 30 Years of Research [09/17/2011]
• Heaven For 21 Minutes: Local Couple Tells of Afterlife Experience [Protestant Sees Purgatory] [07/26/2011]
• Meet the boy who says he visited heaven and saw Jesus [03/25/2011]
• 'Heaven is for Real-- a 4-year-old boy's glimpse into the afterlife' Tops NY Times Bestseller List [02/27/2011]
• Boy, 4, says angels sang to him while lifeless [02/19/2011]
• 16 Flood Victims Raised from the Dead in Brazil [01/23/2011]
• What it means to be Awake! Plato's Allegory of the cave. [01/03/2011]
• Right Scoop: 4 Year Old Sees His Baby Sister ... Before She Was Born [11/19/2010]
• Seeking Proof in Near-Death Claims (18 Hospitals to study mystery of near-death experiences) [10/26/2010]
• Jesse Lee Peterson Radio Show! Uniting the Races with Truth Instead of Dividing them with Lies! [10/12/2010]
• 'Visions, Trips and Crowded Rooms' - what we experience before we die [07/19/2010]
• Review of Life After Death: The Evidence [04/03/2010]
• CATHOLIC WOMAN RELATES GLIMPSE OF 'OTHER SIDE' AFTER FAILED ABORTION [03/15/2010]
• Seeing Jesus [03/01/2010]
• INCREDIBLE MEDICAL PROCEDURE THAT CAUSES DEATH DOESN'T STOP WOMAN'S JOURNEY TO LIGHT [02/17/2010]
• Who is the Being of Light Encountered in Near-Death Experiences? [01/30/2010]
• Is There Life After Death? [01/23/2010]
• Doctor Claims He Has Evidence of the Afterlife [01/21/2010]
• HUGE WITH THOSE WHO 'DIE' AND RETURN IS FEELING THAT OTHER SIDE IS REAL 'HOME' [05/12/2009]
• What Happens When We Die? [09/24/2008]
• World's Largest-ever Study Of Near-Death Experiences [09/11/2008]
• Woman Who Had Near-Death Experience Recalls Surprising Way She Was 'Judged' [Open] [06/16/2008]
• MAJOR THEOLOGIAN SAW 'NEAR-DEATH' LIGHT AS HAVE SO MANY WITH GLIMPSE OF HEAVEN [02/11/2008]
• MICHIGAN WOMAN WHO 'DIED': JESUS WILL BE SURPRISE FOR THOSE WHO DENY HIM [12/20/2007]
• STUNG BY MOST VENOMOUS OF CREATURES, MAN SAYS HE ENCOUNTERED 'LIGHT' OF LORD [09/25/2007]
• So, how much does a soul weigh? [06/12/2007]
• Altered States - Scientists Analyze the Near-Death Experience [05/25/2007]
• What really happens in out of body experiences (or in near death experiences) [03/07/2007]
• 'He gave me life twice'(man shares his near-death experience in hopes of helping others) [11/10/2006]
• Near-Death Experiences As Children Change Lives [11/09/2006]
• Close Encounters (an israeli's near death experience leads to vision re: war with islam) [10/22/2006]
• Out-of-Body Experience? Your Brain Is to Blame [10/02/2006]
• Trying to get a glimpse of what's over on the other side (Signs of Life after Death?) [06/10/2006]
• Kentucky researchers attempt to explain 'near-death experience' [04/24/2006]
• (Protestant) Minister Who Had Near-Death Episode Believes In Purgatory [03/08/2006]
• Is There Life After Death? An Emminent International Cardiologist Believes He Can PROVE IT! [02/21/2006]
• "Heaven. Where Is It? How Do We Get There" (Barbara Walters will tell us how- on ABC) [12/13/2005]
• Father Jose Maniyangat - Life After Death Experience [12/06/2005]
• Howard Storm's Amazing Prophecy - Economic Collapse, Civil Unrest (for discernment) [09/03/2005]
• Cindy Sheehan's Partner - Nadia McCaffrey - Attempted Suicide Twice [08/11/2005]
• DEAD RECKONING (Scientific and Spiritual Significance of Near-Death Experiences Studied [05/01/2005]
• Hallucinatory Neurophysics [the mathematics of visual hallucinations and NDE's] [02/05/2005]
• PRIEST SAYS THAT IN BRUSH WITH DEATH HE SAW PRIESTS AND BISHOPS IN HELL, HEAVEN [07/01/2004]
• Is There Life After Death? [05/02/2004]
• Did angels intercede to save Reagan's life? [03/12/2004]
• Heavenly body gives Bush a close call [02/26/2004]
• Ex-atheist describes near-death experience [02/04/2004]
• Show me heaven [01/27/2004]
• 'Dead' man, 94, resumes breathing at funeral home [01/02/2004]
• A SECOND CHANCE Daniel: Raised from the Dead [10/06/2003]
• Scientists to Probe Near Death Experiences [09/14/2003]
• Scientists to Probe Near Death Experiences [09/10/2003]
• Beyond brain death [03/14/2002]

[Hildy]

There was a show called something like I survived or I came back.. and it was real life people talking about their death experiences...and for the most part, it all sounded the same. It was like this author says..some of the People did not even want to come back. But the most interesting one was this one guy who self admitted he had been a terrible person. Criminal.. the whole nine yards. His experience was one of going to hell. It was incredible the detail he described. I’m going to see if I can find it and post it here...

[Hildy]

The show is called ‘I SURVIVED....BEYOND AND BACK” It was mesmerizing.