Reading Eben Alexander’s book Proof of Heaven, and finding it
as engaging as his talk, but with much more detail, both personal and
scientific, including some fascinating backstory, I sort of wish I’d
nearly died and had such a glorious taste of the spiritual realm.
I
wondered, why now? Why has this book come out just now? I predict it
will be a bestseller, and Eben Alexander will promote it with all he’s
got, because he is earnest about the message of ultimate eternal love he
calls God.
When I was very young I had a similar
experience, though not as grand. I called it God because I’d seen God in
a book and figured God was the right name for feeling so utterly
affirmed and accepted without question. I have spent most of my life
trying to preserve, protect, even simply remember and retrieve, this
experience of pure being-loved. I have wanted to shield it from my own
doubts. I also it hasn't magically made me a perfect person!
My
sister remembers me under the table a lot, but I have no proof of my
own small but ultimate experience. All I can do is trust it, and write
about it, and try not to get preachy-insistent about it.
To
me, the most resonant thing Alexander wrote about God was: “One of the
biggest mistakes people make when they think about God is to imagine god
as impersonal. Yes, God is behind numbers, the perfection of the
universe that science measures and struggles to understand. But—again,
paradoxically—Om (means One and is another name he uses for Divinity) is
“human” as well—even more human than you and I are. Om understands and
sympathizes with our human situation more profoundly than we can
imagine because Om knows what we have forgotten, and understands the
terrible burden it is to live with amnesia of the Divine for even a
moment.”
That’s like what I felt as a child and I
can’t go abstract with it, no matter how much I think I should, and no
matter how much I know God remains Mystery to be grasped occasionally by
sheer grace. Believe me, however, I’m in no hurry to die.
Alexander doesn’t refer to God as He. Okay with me. Might the Holy Eucharist be, for Christians, a ritual of anamnesis,
a state of no amnesia about Divinity? Could the “human” God have many
identities, like Jesus, Buddha, Moses, and how about Betty Friedan, or
Anita Hill, or Gloria Steinem, Julian of Norwich, Pope John XXIII, or
you, or me—and so many more.
So, why now? I think it
is because most of the world has made science an idol. There is lots of
evidence, biblical and beyond, that God finds a way to insert a
“punctuation mark” into this universe to remind people that science, as
necessary and wondrous as it is, is not God.
Showing posts with label Eben Alexander. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eben Alexander. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
2013.02.19 Proof of Heaven?
Hearing Eben Alexander, author of the book Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey Into the Afterlife, speak was a moving experience for me—not because I needed proof of heaven or bolstering for my religious faith. In fact, I’d pretty much decided to wait till I was much older to worry and wonder about resurrection theology—and never have fretted about “getting in.”
Nor was I interested in hearing one more, albeit from a medical scientist, testimony about near-death experience.
No, I was moved because Dr. Alexander was NOT charismatic. That is not meant as an insult.
Alexander spoke almost casually and in a low-key way about the exhilarating, exotic, colorful, yes, heavenly according to age-old religio-spiritual imagery, experience he had while he was in a week-long coma induced by bacterial meningitis (inflammation of membranes that line the skull and enclose the brain and spinal cord).
“My neocortex was not running at all,” he told us. It was dead, or more graphically, a “neocortex soaked in pus.” In such a condition, the physical organ we call brain, could not manufacture consciousness such as Alexander experienced.
Does human consciousness exist outside the brain? It would seem so. The brain, in fact, actually limits consciousness, according to Dr. Alexander.
Alexander came out of the coma and back into life, armed with a life-transforming experience, and a memory. His son, a physician studying neurosurgery himself, told him not to talk to anyone or read a thing before he wrote everything he remembered down. He wrote 20,000 words in six weeks.
Medical doctors, who had all but pronounced the case hopeless, called his recovery a medical miracle. Alexander called it the result of being in heaven. The publisher chose the book's title to promote sales, but it's really about Divinity. He described his vision of divinity (his word) in great detail, including a perfect mystical melody, a beautiful woman, swirling colors, an infinitely knowing presence, and a powerful message of unconditional love. All the ingredients of a perfect first date, I’d say.
No stranger to religion, in part because of a physician father with a strong faith, Alexander, nevertheless, looked to science to answer life’s questions. But after his spiritual awakening he testified: “I knew what happened to me was beyond science, and that if I said anything at all as a scientist ever again, I had to say this.”
Science and theology are not at odds, as many in both camps have maintained. They are soul mates driven by similar quests and using different methodologies. Such an interface, to me, is not “brain” (or rocket) science! Still, for such a conversation to succeed, both camps must be motivated by respect, accord the project the dignity it deserves, speak with mutual respectful, and have no attachment to agenda or outcome.
I will not describe more of Alexander’s compelling details, save to add that he left us with a tantalizing cliff-hanger, the final discovery that, for him, secured the truth of the heavenly realm as he experienced it.
Do I find this witness credible? Yes. Why?
-I didn’t feel the impulse to argue with him or critique, one of my favorite resistances.
-He never used the word resurrection, or tried to pump a Christian agenda.
-He was humble, far from culture-bound celebrity, although he has achieved media fame.
-He did not point to himself, but beyond himself. When asked if he thought God “arranged” all this with a higher purpose, Alexander said, “No. I was not chosen.”
I was glad to hear that theological line of thinking dispelled. God doesn’t choose anyone, make anyone special, or manipulate human freedom, even for a godly agenda (That’s our specialty.) We are all called, and chosen.
-The message of Love was clear, as was the message that Alexander would go back and be a messenger—the job of “angels.”
-When he, against all odds, awoke, his first words were: Thank you.
-His second words were: All is well.
-All “near-death” accounts are consistently the same at the core, though there may be descriptive imagery from earthly culture or religion ie. seeing Jesus, Buddha, etc. Atheists would leave it abstract, Alexander noted, but made no fun of that approach.
-One does not have to almost die to have such experience.
-If you have such an experience you will never forget it, although you may question it and try to understand it by many means.
-Images sync with biblical and other ancient and modern mystical witnesses.
-Extended consciousness is not a new topic.
-All things are one in God.
I felt affirmed in my own spiritual experience and pleased that Alexander’s witness answered some of my questions: Why, in spite of being exposed to lots of traditional negative God images, even in the Bible, have I never believed a single one? Why have I never believed that God created goodness, and therefore must also be the author of evil? Why have I never thought God was judgmental or controlling, never? I was never afraid of God.
My theology comes out of my own spiritual experience and often has made me feel out of step, although, thankfully, I didn’t have to get pregnant, exiled, crucified, or nearly die for it.
Oh, I’ve been hurt and lost connection with the God I early experienced, and I’ve doubted my self and my own memory, but I NEVER forgot what happened. And yes, I’ve felt angry at patriarchal images and language, plenty, but, from my beginning I knew it was NOT God—not simply, not MY God, but NOT God at all.
I write about the talk I heard with some trepidation, because I may have heard some things wrong, and I haven’t read the book, only reviews and articles. But I will read the book, then keep on writing my own book. As Alexander said, it’s good timing for this message—and its source.
Nor was I interested in hearing one more, albeit from a medical scientist, testimony about near-death experience.
No, I was moved because Dr. Alexander was NOT charismatic. That is not meant as an insult.
Alexander spoke almost casually and in a low-key way about the exhilarating, exotic, colorful, yes, heavenly according to age-old religio-spiritual imagery, experience he had while he was in a week-long coma induced by bacterial meningitis (inflammation of membranes that line the skull and enclose the brain and spinal cord).
“My neocortex was not running at all,” he told us. It was dead, or more graphically, a “neocortex soaked in pus.” In such a condition, the physical organ we call brain, could not manufacture consciousness such as Alexander experienced.
Does human consciousness exist outside the brain? It would seem so. The brain, in fact, actually limits consciousness, according to Dr. Alexander.
Alexander came out of the coma and back into life, armed with a life-transforming experience, and a memory. His son, a physician studying neurosurgery himself, told him not to talk to anyone or read a thing before he wrote everything he remembered down. He wrote 20,000 words in six weeks.
Medical doctors, who had all but pronounced the case hopeless, called his recovery a medical miracle. Alexander called it the result of being in heaven. The publisher chose the book's title to promote sales, but it's really about Divinity. He described his vision of divinity (his word) in great detail, including a perfect mystical melody, a beautiful woman, swirling colors, an infinitely knowing presence, and a powerful message of unconditional love. All the ingredients of a perfect first date, I’d say.
No stranger to religion, in part because of a physician father with a strong faith, Alexander, nevertheless, looked to science to answer life’s questions. But after his spiritual awakening he testified: “I knew what happened to me was beyond science, and that if I said anything at all as a scientist ever again, I had to say this.”
Science and theology are not at odds, as many in both camps have maintained. They are soul mates driven by similar quests and using different methodologies. Such an interface, to me, is not “brain” (or rocket) science! Still, for such a conversation to succeed, both camps must be motivated by respect, accord the project the dignity it deserves, speak with mutual respectful, and have no attachment to agenda or outcome.
I will not describe more of Alexander’s compelling details, save to add that he left us with a tantalizing cliff-hanger, the final discovery that, for him, secured the truth of the heavenly realm as he experienced it.
Do I find this witness credible? Yes. Why?
-I didn’t feel the impulse to argue with him or critique, one of my favorite resistances.
-He never used the word resurrection, or tried to pump a Christian agenda.
-He was humble, far from culture-bound celebrity, although he has achieved media fame.
-He did not point to himself, but beyond himself. When asked if he thought God “arranged” all this with a higher purpose, Alexander said, “No. I was not chosen.”
I was glad to hear that theological line of thinking dispelled. God doesn’t choose anyone, make anyone special, or manipulate human freedom, even for a godly agenda (That’s our specialty.) We are all called, and chosen.
-The message of Love was clear, as was the message that Alexander would go back and be a messenger—the job of “angels.”
-When he, against all odds, awoke, his first words were: Thank you.
-His second words were: All is well.
-All “near-death” accounts are consistently the same at the core, though there may be descriptive imagery from earthly culture or religion ie. seeing Jesus, Buddha, etc. Atheists would leave it abstract, Alexander noted, but made no fun of that approach.
-One does not have to almost die to have such experience.
-If you have such an experience you will never forget it, although you may question it and try to understand it by many means.
-Images sync with biblical and other ancient and modern mystical witnesses.
-Extended consciousness is not a new topic.
-All things are one in God.
I felt affirmed in my own spiritual experience and pleased that Alexander’s witness answered some of my questions: Why, in spite of being exposed to lots of traditional negative God images, even in the Bible, have I never believed a single one? Why have I never believed that God created goodness, and therefore must also be the author of evil? Why have I never thought God was judgmental or controlling, never? I was never afraid of God.
My theology comes out of my own spiritual experience and often has made me feel out of step, although, thankfully, I didn’t have to get pregnant, exiled, crucified, or nearly die for it.
Oh, I’ve been hurt and lost connection with the God I early experienced, and I’ve doubted my self and my own memory, but I NEVER forgot what happened. And yes, I’ve felt angry at patriarchal images and language, plenty, but, from my beginning I knew it was NOT God—not simply, not MY God, but NOT God at all.
I write about the talk I heard with some trepidation, because I may have heard some things wrong, and I haven’t read the book, only reviews and articles. But I will read the book, then keep on writing my own book. As Alexander said, it’s good timing for this message—and its source.
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