 4th January, 2004 Volume 10, Issue 25 |
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However,
when speaking about life after death, there are many questions that would
come to mind, and among them the five main questions would be: Can you prove
life after death? Whenever we argue about whether a thing can be proved, we
should distinguish five different questions about that thing: Does it really
exist or not? If it does exist, do we know that it exists? A thing can
obviously exist without our knowing it. If we know that it exists, can we be
certain of this knowledge? Our knowledge might be true but uncertain; it
might be 'right opinion.' If it is certain, is there
logical proof, a demonstration of why we have a right to be certain?
If there is proof, is it a
scientific one in the modern sense of 'scientific'? Is it publicly
verifiable by formal logic and/or empirical observation? There may be other
valid kinds of proof besides proof by the scientific method. 'Home
Coming' Speaking
to The Sunday Leader, Prof. D. S. Ranawaka of the Colombo University stated
that the phenomenon of life after death has today been proven through many
scientific researches. Prof. Ranawaka noted that death is also called
"homecoming" as the soul of the departed would join the souls of
other departed loved ones. He went on to say that the soul or spirits could
communicate with each other sometimes - not through words, but through one's
mind and thoughts. He
went on to explain that studies on life after death first began with the
study of spirits. This aspect was looked into first by the British, who
wanted to know whether people could come back after death as spirits. It was
through these studies that they finally concluded that spirits of people who
experience sudden deaths often stay longer on earth than other spirits. Prof.
Ranawaka went on to say that the second phase of the studies, which included
looking into the earlier lives of various people was mostly inspired by a
presentation made by an American, researcher Jina Serminara for her
doctorate. This presentation was based on readings of well-known hypnotist
Edgar Casy, who has to his credit approximately 20,000 readings of earlier
lives of various people. This, according to Prof. Ranawaka changed the
outlook of death studies, making many researchers look into the subject more
deeply. The
third and the most recent researches look into near death experiences or
NDEs. This, Prof. Ranawaka explained was a temporary death where the person
is neither clinically dead nor alive. Expensive NDEs
have been a much talked about topic as many Sri Lankans too have experienced
this phenomenon. He
went on to say that the book Life After Death unfolds 25 cases analysed by
psychiatrist and researcher, Raymond Moody, using modern research
technology. Also Reincarnation Type I And Type II, a book in two volumes,
written by Prof. Ian Steven highlights 10 Sri Lankan cases as well. According
to Prof. Ranawaka, life definitely exists after death in the timeless
universe. He went on to say that spirits waiting to come back to life
surround us, adding that once a person develops his/her mind, he/she could
openly see the spirits that surround them and in some cases even communicate
with them. As
for the reason for spirits wanting to come back to life, Prof. Ranawaka
stated that it could happen in case the departed had some connection with
the living world, where he/she still needed to be part of. Just
like a computer programme the next lifetime will evolve from input to
output, the feedback being the events of a lifetime. This will again
establish patterns and programmes for the ensuing lifetime. In
short, every incarnation adds another layer of programmed energy to the
layers of energy that originated in previous lifetimes. Thus, an entity of
energy can be conceived of as being something like the module of command for
an organic being. A computer without a programme cannot perform. A body of
matter without the energy of life is dead. We can state: the essence
of life is the energy of life. The matter body is but a tool used for
evolutionary purposes. There is life after death and life gets a new
beginning in material form in a new reincarnation. Box
-1 A
Buddhist view According
to Buddhism,
enlightenment brings an end to the long journey of sansara. Till then
the human soul will journey through various forms of life - a wheel of life
- where the soul will reincarnate according to his/her merits. Box
-2 A
case study Prof.
Ranawaka explaining a
case study written by Prof. Ian Stevens in his book highlighted the
story of one Fernando in Gorakana. Fernando
had been an illicit brewer in his hometown who was also an alcoholic. After
consuming liquor he used to go home and fight with his wife - Maggie.
However, he loved Maggie although he fought with her endlessly. One day,
after liquor, a lorry knocked down Fernando and he had died instantly. A
few years later, a family in Mt. Lavinia gave birth to a son. This toddler
used to talk of drinking and had asked people around to join him for a
drink. His parents who were rather shocked by this toddler's behaviour had
taken him to a temple nearby. The
chief priest at the temple, after hearing the toddler's comments, had
realised he was relating something from his previous birth and
informed Prof. Stevens. Speaking
to Prof. Stevens, the toddler had said that he needs to see Maggie. The
toddler had provided Prof. Stevens with the necessary information to find
her. Prof.
Stevens who found Maggie brought along several other women like Maggie and
asked the boy to identify Maggie. The boy had immediately walked up to the
real Maggie and said that he still loves her. It
was then that Dr. Steven finally determined that the boy was none other than
Fernando, reincarnated. When he grew up, he had got into the liquor business
once again. Box
-3 Scientists
say brain does not produce thought Scientists
investigating 'near-death' experiences
say they have found evidence to suggest that consciousness can
continue to exist after the brain has ceased to function. However,
neurological experts have challenged the claim. The
researchers interviewed 63 patients who had survived heart attacks within a
week of the experience. Of
these 56 had no recollection of the period of unconsciousness they
experienced whilst, effectively, clinically dead. However,
seven had memories, four of which counted as near-death experiences. They
told of feelings of peace and joy, time speeded up, heightened senses, lost
awareness of body, seeing a bright light, entering another world,
encountering a mystical being and coming to "a point of no
return". None
of the patients were found to be receiving low oxygen levels - which some
scientists believe may be responsible for so-called 'near-death'
experiences. Lead
researcher Dr. Sam Parnia, of Southampton General Hospital, said nobody
fully understands how brain cells generate thoughts. He
said it might be that the mind or consciousness is independent of the brain. He
said: "When we examine brain cells we see that brain cells are like any
other cells, they can produce proteins and chemicals, but they are not
really capable of producing the subjective phenomenon of thought that we
have. "The
brain is definitely needed to manifest the mind, a bit like how a television
set can take what essentially are waves in the air and translate them into
picture and sound." Dr.
Chris Freeman, consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist at Royal
Edinburgh Hospital, said there was no proof that the experiences reported by
the patients actually occurred when the brain was shut down. "We
know that memories are extremely fallible. We are quite good at knowing that
something happened, but we are very poor at knowing when it happened. "It
is quite possible that these experiences happened during the recovery, or
just before the cardiac arrest. To say that they happened when the brain was
shut down, I think there is little evidence for that at all." (Courtesy
BBC) Box
-4 An
Islamic view What
made those followers forsake the
established beliefs, traditions and customs of their forefathers
notwithstanding the risk of being totally alienated from their own
community? The simple answer is: they made use of their faculties of mind
and heart and realised the truth. Did they realise the truth through
perceptual consciousness? Not so, as perceptual experience of life after
death is impossible. Actually God has given man besides perceptual
consciousness, rational, aesthetic and moral consciousness too. It is this
consciousness that guides man regarding realities that cannot be verified
through sensory data. That is why all the prophets of God while calling
people to believe in God and life after death, appeal to the aesthetic,
moral and rational consciousness of man. For example, when the idolaters of
Makkah denied even the possibility of life after death, the Quran exposed
the weakness of their stand by advancing very logical and rational arguments
in support of it: "And
he makes comparisons for us, and forgets his own (origin and) creation: he
says, 'Who can give life to (dry) bones and decomposed ones (at that)?' Say,
'He will give them life who created them for the first time! For He fully
knows all! - The same who produces for you fire out of the green tree, when
behold! ye kindle therewith (your own fires)! Is not He who created the
heavens and the earth able to create the like thereof?' - Yea, indeed! for
He is the Creator Supreme, of skill and knowledge (infinite)!"
(36:78-81) At
another occasion the Quran very clearly says that the disbelievers have no
sound basis for their denial of life after death. It is based on pure
conjecture: "And
they say: 'What is there but our life in this world? We shall die and we
live, and nothing but time can destroy us.' But of that they have no
knowledge: they merely conjecture: And when our clear signs are rehearsed to
them, their argument is nothing but this: they say, 'Bring (back) our
forefathers, if what ye say is true!'" (45:24-25) Surely
God will raise all the dead. But God has His own plan of things. A day will
come when the whole universe will be destroyed and then again the dead will
be resurrected to stand before God. That day will be the beginning of the
life that will never end, and that day every person will be rewarded by God
according to his or her good or evil deed. The explanation that the Quran
gives about the necessity of life after death is what moral consciousness of
man demands. Actually if there is no life after death, the very belief in
God becomes irrelevant or even if one believes in God, that would be an
unjust and indifferent God: having once created man not concerned with his
fate. Box
-5 A
Christian view What
is our eventual destination when we die?
Over the past 2000 years, conservative and liberal Christian faith
groups and theologians have studied the Bible anddisagreed about its
teachings on life after death. They have concluded that heaven, hell,
purgatory, reincarnation, some sort of shadowy existence, and/or even
annihilation (no existence at all) awaits: Currently,
Conservative Christians generally view the authors of the Bible as having
been inspired by God. Thus, their writings are inerrant. They believe that
all of the authors present a coherent picture of the afterlife: reward for
the few in Heaven and eternal punishment for the vast majority in Hell. Liberal
Christians view the authors of the Bible as each promoting their own
specific - and very different - beliefs of the afterlife. Liberals see these
beliefs as having evolving during the 10 centuries or so over which the
Bible was written. Each
group believes that their conclusions are correct and solidly based on the
Bible. Human
beings, perhaps alone among the life forms on earth, are aware that their
life is finite. According to many theologians and mental health researchers,
one of the main comforts that people obtain from their religious faith is
the assurance that life will not end at their death. They believe that it
will continue in some form forever.Soren Kierkegaard "proposed that the
awareness and fear of dying is so fundamental to human nature that it
underlies most human beliefs and ways of behaving." Another
reason for some people's belief in an afterlife might be the desire for
justice. In some sections of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) the
reward for righteous behavior is said to be a long life and many children.
But this does not necessarily work out in practice. Box
-6 The
causal or Brahma worlds Astral
inhabitants can
reincarnate into the physical or causal worlds. Their life span is
about 1,500 to 2,000 years. The human being is composed of three parts. (1)
Physical body (2) Astral body (3) Causal body. These three bodies are joined
together due to the force of unfulfilled desires. The causal body is
composed of mind and ideas and is represented by a spark of light. In
Buddhism, the beings in the Brahma lokas are of two types. Those with a body
(Rupa) and those with mind only (Nama). Beings of the physical world can go
direct to the Brahma worlds, if they have developed their minds in
meditation to a very high level. The beings in the causal world are only one
step away from total liberation or Nirvana. They have only to apply
themselves to get rid of the remaining traces of desires to achieve
liberation. Buddhists
who accumulate good or wholesome karma by performing dana, seela, bhavana
(charity, morality, meditation) need not unduly fear death, as they will be
able to be happy in life beyond. Others who accumulate bad or unwholesome
karma will have to improve themselves sooner than later, to avoid the
consequences in this very life, and in the life beyond. _____________ "Save
my life" A
Allosias, a 36 year old married man of no. 188/
4, Cotta Road, Borella, is suffocating from
advanced chronic kidney failure and the only way to save his life is
kidney transplantation following kidney machine treatment for two to three
months. The
cost of this theraphy is about Rs. 400,000 and after the operation he will
need about Rs. 30,000 per month for about one year followed by Rs. 2000
rupees per month for the rest of his life for his follow up drugs. "It's
been eight months now since we found about my husband's kidney failure and I
immediately volunteered to donate a kidney. My husband refused saying that
if he were to die at least I can continue looking
after the children. Therefore, now my husband's brother has
volunteered to donate a kidney," stated Allosias's wife. Allosias
is a father of three children, aged 11, four and one. A
total of Rs. 650,000 is needed in order to save this man's life. The
President's Fund has agreed to grant them 300,000 and for the remaining Rs.
350,000 they seek the assistance of the public, as the treatment cannot
begin until all the money has been collected. "We
urgently need the help of the public as doctors have given only three to
four months for my husband to live." All
contributions can be made to Sampath Bank, Borella Branch, account number
1004 5056 7757. |
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