Present scientific evidences about the existence of afterlife
Elaine Cristina Vieira

 
It's been many years that humans have wondered if there is something beyond life. Many cultures, religions and philosophies have been based on the belief that the dead will live on other worlds, they go to heaven or reincarnate. But what if science could give us evidence that there is life after death? In recent decades, many scientists and medical researchers from several universities in the world are revolutionizing the paradigm of the 21st century showing evidence that our consciousness in fact survives physical death. 

Mediumship in the laboratory 

In Windbridge Institute in Arizona, USA, Dr. Julie Beischel is conducting important research to show that there is life after death. It basically uses three methods to study the phenomenon of mediumship: 1- proof-focused – these are tests to verify that the mediums are giving correct information, 2- process-focused - studying the experience of the mediums during spiritual communication, applied-research - examines how information from the mediums can benefit society in general. Dr. Beischel’s results confirmed the hypothesis that the spirit survives death.We contacted Dr. Julie Beischel to ask more about the scientific method she applies in her research.She told us she uses very strict controls to investigate the phenomenon of mediumship through a scientific program that contains a large amount of data: "In Windbridge Institute, we are mainly interested in the study of mediumship. We use scientific methods and strict controls to research these phenomena and the mediumship research program covers a huge amount of data. Through our scientific method of quintuple-blind (scientific protocol designed to avoid biased results, where neither the examined object (study) nor the observer (researcher) know the variables of the study.In the case of quintuple-blind, 5 different people are used to help in the analysis of the data none of which know what the study is about).With mediums certified by Windbridge Institute, we can show that the information coming from the mediums about the family of the already deceased ones are wholly accurate, and, moreover, the mediums have no prior knowledge about the family or the discarnate."Furthermore, Beischel said:" This research paradigm is ideal because the phenomenon of mediumship is easily replicable and can bring the phenomenon of mediumship to the laboratory".Dr. Beischel’s research certainly demonstrates that the phenomenon of mediumship is indeed authentic.

In Brazil, the mediumship of Chico Xavier was studied by Dr. Paulo Rossi in 1991. Chico Xavier was known for his free work, through which he published more than 400 books received from over 600 spiritual writers, and he also received letters from already deceased people. The study by Dr. Paul Rossi confirmed that 93.3% of people who visited Chico Xavier did not know him, 62.2% of the messages showed more than six real facts each and 71.1% contained detailed information about the deceased, who were later confirmed as true by their families. Rossi concluded that the information revealed by Chico Xavier actually came from spirits of dead people and was not the result of any kind of fraud.

In 2004, Alexander Moreira de Almeida completed his doctorate thesis through the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil), in the area of ​​mediumistic experiences. Almeida studied 115 spiritist mediums who follow the doctrine codified by Allan Kardec, in order to build their socio-demographic profile and to prove their mental health.The researchers concluded that most mediums developed their mediumship during childhood and showed high socio-educative levels. Furthermore, the results showed a very low level of psychiatric disorders amongst mediums. This study shows that mediums who are often branded as "crazy" are actually people who have no psychological problems and have a very high level of education.

Dr. Sérgio Felipe de Oliveira, from São Paulo University, uses techniques of X-ray diffraction, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging to explain the relationship between the pineal gland and mediumship. Dr. Sergio showed that incorporation mediums have more apatite crystals in the pineal gland and that during the moment of spiritual communication, the mediums have high brain activity and increased blood flow in the region of the pineal gland. Dr. Oliveira’s hypothesis is that the pineal gland is the sensory organ of mediumship. 

Research on near-death experiences 

At London King's College there is a revolution happening in the world of thanatology, the scientific study of death. Researcher and M.D. Peter Fenwick is carrying out detailed experiments on a phenomenon that happens between 24 and 48 hours before and after death and also at the time of death. The near-death experiences refer to the set of visions or sensations often associated with situations of imminent death.These sensations include: out of body experience; levitation, extreme fear, total serenity, security, warmth and the presence of a light. These phenomena are usually reported after an individual has been considered clinically dead and then comes back to life. Dr. Fenwick examines the views of people who are hospitalised and who talk to already dead relatives. He also researches coincidences of which discarnate souls contacted someone just to say that she / he had died. . "These events occur very often and in a large percentage of cases and they claim the consciousness is different from that of the brain," concludes Dr. Fenwick.

Dr. Kenneth Ring from University of Connecticut and Sharon Cooper from University of New York, made ​​a two-year study on near-death experiences for the visually impaired, with amazing results. The results were published in the book Mindsight (1999), which demonstrated that 31 blind people who have experienced near-death experience described having been able to see for the first time in their lives, giving details of medical procedures on the surgical table.

The oncologist Jeffrey Long, who heads the foundation of research on near-death experience (http://www.nderf.org), has collected more than 2,500 case studies around the world from people who have had this kind of experience.  For using the scientific method in his research, we decided to contact Dr. Long to find out more about their work.In our interview which was carried out by e-mail, he told us: "My professional field is based on research into near-death experiences.In my opinion, near-death experiences provide one of the largest scientific evidence of life after death."In his book Evidence of the Afterlife (Evidences of life after death), Dr. Long summarizes the lines of evidences which indicate the accuracy of near-death experiences: clinically dead patients experiencing: 1) clear conscience, 2 ) real experiences outside the body, 3) heightened senses; 4) awareness during anaesthesia; 5) clear memories of reunions with deceased relatives.In addition, Dr. Long confirms that near-death experiences in children are the same as in adults, that near-death experiences occur worldwide and that people who go through near-death experiences often promote a significant and meaningful change of life. 

Past Lives Regression Therapy and Reincarnation 

Researches in past life regression are made out of evidence-based practices.The results come from questionnaires that are filled out before and after therapy with a large number of participants with a particular type of problem and includes a control group to demonstrate its effectiveness (the double-blind scientific method).Between 1985 and 1992, Hazel Denning, founder of the International Association for Regression Research and Therapies (http://www.iarrt.org), studied the results of eight regression therapists with approximately 1,000 patients.The results were measured immediately after therapy and then again six months, one year, two years and five years thereafter. From 450 patients who could be located after five years, 24% reported that their symptoms had completely disappeared, 23% confirmed a big improvement, confirmed a 17% improvement, and 36% did not achieve any improvement. In general, this adds up to a positive balance of 64%.

The psychotherapist Dr. Brian Weiss, Mount Sinai Center in Miami, USA, who declared himself a sceptic, changed his mind and decided to research the phenomenon of reincarnation and spirituality to find that one of his patients, after recalling a past life, could give impressive details about the already dead son of Dr. Weiss.He also noted that during the hypnosis session his patients claimed to see teachers (spirits). Dr. Weiss had the opportunity to talk to these teachers, who gave detailed information about subjects of which the patient was unaware. After much research, Dr. Weiss has written several books, including Many Lives, Many Masters, Messages from the Masters, Only love is real, among others, all which explains the reality of reincarnation and the spiritual world in a psychiatric perspective.

Dr. Ian Stevenson, who died in 2007, was one of the best known researchers in the area of reincarnation. He worked at the University of Virginia. Stevenson did not use the method of hypnosis to verify if a person has a memory of a previous life. Instead, he studied thousands of cases in children in the United States, England, Thailand, Burma, Turkey, Lebanon, Canada, India, etc..First, he checked all the information about the previous life of the child. Then he identified the discarnate person that the child was said to have been in a previous life. Later, he confirmed the facts of the past life of the discarnate person that coincided with the memories of the children. He also likened marks on the body and birth defects of children with wounds and scars that the discarnate had when alive, all confirmed by medical records.

Dr. Jim Tucker, medical director of the Child and Family Psychiatric Clinic of University of Virginia, is the current successor to Dr. Stevenson.We contacted Dr. Tucker in order to know a little more about evidence of life after death.He replied: "The most important evidence of life after death, besides near-death experiences, are the researches with mediums, thoroughly studied reports of apparitions and past life memories in children. Ian Stevenson spent 40 years studying such cases, where most of them came from cultures with a belief in reincarnation.  Now I study Western cases, and the results are almost the same."

The science of life after death

The science of post-mortem was investigated from the justice point of view by Australian barrister and writer Victor Zammit. He asserts that all the evidence he has gathered about life after death is strong enough to be accepted in any court (http://www.victorzammit.com).In his book A Lawyer Presents the Case for the Afterlife (2006, 4^th edition) Zammit showed 23 different areas that demonstrate the existence of life after death.He proposed a challenge for scientists, by which $ 1,000,000 would pay for someone to prove that there isn’t life after death!

Currently, there are numerous studies being conducted in the area of spirituality and the afterlife, where scientists are using cutting-edge technologies and scientific methods. The pioneering research of Raymond Moody and Elisabeth Kübler-Ross has contributed to the development of this area. We can mention several other names, such as Erlendur Haraldsson from University of Iceland, Morris Netherton, a past life therapist, psychologist Peter Ramster, psychotherapist Andy Tomlinson, cardiologist Pim van Lommel and many others. Although many researchers are finding striking evidence suggesting that there is life after death, or at least the survival of consciousness, they still do not know how to explain how it all works...

And science sometimes works this way. A classic example is astronomers and astrophysicists who can identify a relationship between the activity cycles of the sun and the climate on Earth, assuming that this relationship exists, despite not knowing how it works, as explained by Professor Sami Solanki, of the Max Planck Institute Department's Solar System Research in Germany (http://tinyurl.com/77taz9c): "The correlation between solar cycles and earth's climate has not been demonstrated." So why do they study this correlation if it is not yet known it really exists? The answer is simple: it is because they have seen evidences to suggest that this may be so. Well, it seems we are in a situation very similar to the studies about life after death. Researchers have found evidences that suggest the survival of consciousness after physical death, but they still cannot understand well how this works. If in both cases science has not been able to demonstrate them, then we still can not reject the possibility of a possible existence of life after death!

^(*) Participou na elaboração deste artigo Mado Martínez, também radicada na Espanha.

Elaine Vieira PhD is a physiologist and PhD researcher in the area of metabolic diseases in Barcelona, Spain.

Mado Martínez is a philologist who is currently studying and working in the anthropological field at the National University of Distance Education (UNED), Spain. She completed her studies in language and literature at the University of Seville, and is finishing her graduate studies in cultures and traditions at the University of Alicante, Spain. She keeps a website - http://www.madomartinez.com.