Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences

I've been interested in this topic as long as I can remember. Having been diagnosed with an advanced cancer, it is helping me to strengthen myself for whatever comes.It is hopeful that one day, I'll see so many friends family members, and others that helped me throughout this plane of existence.Recommend.

There has been much evidence throughout the ages of the existence of God and His plan for us all. The ultimate reality of restoration to Him is voiced in Dr. Long's book, Evidence of the Afterlife. His exquisite, inspired work is yet additional evidence that adherence to a consciousness of His existence and plan is being revealed. Yes, our ways of understanding are so perverted by our limited consciousness and understanding that He needs to lift up various emissaries to testify of Him. Dr. Long presents a coherent model, grounded in the testimony of persons that have peered through the veil of illusion that most live in. It is the best evidence we have thus far, and a pivotal springboard for further development of evidence.Much evidence can be found in the transformation of lives. My own life has been guided by my NDE in 1976; I was 21 years old with a 4 year old son. I had been raised by an embittered, impoverished, lonely woman in the hot, harsh reality of a dingy apartment in LA. My former consciousness was replaced by an entirely new way of perceiving that I formerly had no clue to. I had learned that fear was the obstacle to overcome and love the vehicle. Immediately, I chose to make profound changes in my life, left a consciousness bound to the wheel of poverty and fear and, within weeks found rest and restoration in a life high in the mountains of northern Idaho. Before, I was likely bound by fear to repeat the cruel cycle of my childhood, and then I devoted myself to making sense of the experience within the context of this world, by faith. Eventually, I engaged in academic and spiritual training at a Christian university, and became a nurse engaged in ICU and hospice work. There I found the need for psychiatric and spiritual support for these dear ones, and trained as a psychiatric nurse practitioner and began practice. At the same time, I completed PhD training as a nurse research scientist studying people who were experiencing life-threatening events. For the last many years I have been privileged to in provide psychotherapy and spiritual support by the sea in the NW. Mine is not a perfect life; there are dark nights of the soul, but, if I choose (God's precious gift to us all), I am illumined with the same bright light of love and security that I experienced there. I long to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, yet am perpetuated this life by sharing His glory.Very rarely have I revealed my experience to anyone except in the context of assuring others with death anxiety or for spiritual healing. Dr. Long's exceptionally inspired research and book has been an answer to prayer for me. It establishes a body of scientific evidence and interest in this larger reality of, not only what is in store for us, but also available now to those who have a consciousness now of what is. His work points the Way that He would have us be now and provides assurance He intends for us all to have of the existence of Him. This life is not out there, it is available here and now.We must look to the evidence of faith revealed in the lives that have returned from this experience to learn more. Through the testimony of their experience and then the evidence of the effect of that experience in their lives we will come to know more about God's plan for us all. I would like to participate in creating a coherent model of how and why life choices are made enlightened by the reality of the NDE experience. The veil of illusion no longer exists for those that have "seen" the other side. One can no longer merely exist in a world without consciousness. The soul takes no pleasure in shrinking back, but is inspired to move forward imbued with the Will of God. We must pay greater attention to what we have heard from these with NDEs to learn about the transformation and manifestation by God here and now. The voices in Dr. Long's study can help point the Way to the larger reality God would have us live in. Yes, our instruments are inadequate to measure and quantify this reality. The reality will be revealed in the manner of life chosen. We must, moment by moment, choose to align our very beings with His and perpetuate the unfolding of His plan by incorporating this larger reality into this mostly mundane, unconscious world. There is a responsibility to live, love, teach, and heal those who are willing. I humbly, and with utmost gratitude, thank Dr. Long for persevering in his inspired research to provide this firm foundation, and to actuate within the scientific community the need to understand the implications for further research.

I apologize in advance for not being very good at giving reviews.I've been reading the experiences of NDErs on websites like Jeffrey Long's for years now. NDE's fascinated me from a pretty young age (I believe I started looking into them at age 14-15). Over the years I became more and more agnostic in my beliefs - I wanted to believe, but I had my doubts.This book reminded me of why I believed in my younger years. The stories you find on www.nderf.org and in this book are fascinating to say the least. And reading it helped me feel better about the end of life. NDE stories have that affect on me - I view them as a positive sign that we will all receive a positive end to our physical lives. Either they prove the afterlife as a very real and wonderfully beautiful place, or it proves that our brains give us a beautiful way to end our existence. Obviously Jeffrey Long believes the former. I'm still a bit agnostic myself, but lean towards the former as well. Either scenario gives me some hope - which is the beauty of NDE stories, in my opinion.As for the book: I do like that Dr. Long addressed common skeptical responses. I wish that he addressed more, or maybe even had a chapter dedicated to responses to skeptics.I found his 9 points to be rather compelling. Especially the fact that people have had verified OBE, and that those born blind have a concept of "seeing" in their NDE's - something they cannot do in dreams. But I do wish he had more of a sample size for certain points: like the chapters about children and non-western NDE's. Dr. Long could only deal with what information he had, but I still did raise a few eyebrows on some of the conclusions he jumped to given such a small sample size, especially for the children and Non-Western NDE chapters. I do wonder if a larger amount of stories to include in the study could have altered any corresponding similarities or add to statistically significant differences between groups (i.e.: Comparing adult NDEs to child NDEs)Otherwise I think this is a must read for anyone who is interested in NDE stories and research. I'm definitely glad I gave this book a chance. It renewed my interest in NDE stories.