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Synopsis
Dr Eben Alexander is perhaps the world’s most well-known Near Death Experiencer. As a Harvard trained Neurosurgeon, his story of travelling to another world during a week-long coma during caused by a very rare e-coli bacterial meningitis, noted in his first of 3 books Proof of Heaven touched the hearts of millions of people worldwide. His vast credentials caused a huge stir in the community and triggered a lot of support from proponents of the reality of the Near Death Experience, and a lot of backlash from the skeptical movement.
Perhaps the most notorious documents in opposition to Dr Alexander’s experience is an article published in Esquire. In this article, Dr Alexander’s credibility is called into question, by looking at the alleged legal issues and lawsuits he faced during his practice in Neurosurgery, and some apparent flaws in his story which don’t seem to match the actual events. We talk about this article later on in the discussion, as well as the article published by the International Association for Near Death Studies which also highlights the issues with the Esquire document by Robert and Susanne Mays. I would encourage readers to look at both articles to gather a fair assessment, and to listen to Dr Alexander’s rebuttal to the Esquire publication.
Since his Near Death Experience, Dr Alexander has completely shifted from a hard materialism-based worldview to one of a very spiritual nature, a shift which took a very long time indeed. As his own worst enemy, Dr Alexander kept doubting his experience and trying to find a physiological explanation explanation for what he encountered, however ultimately could not do so, given his deep understanding of the brain and it’s correlations with consciousness. Eventually, he had to conclude that his experience of ‘heaven’ was indeed a real, indeed a hyper-real experience that could not be explained by any physical means. This discovery lead to many life changing explorations of meditation and other spiritual practices which Dr Alexander now talks about and shares in his several different projects.
You can find Dr Alexander and his various projects below:
