NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE

LITTLE ROCK Billy Ray Judkins had no prior knowledge of the phenomenon known as near-death experience when he went into the hospital for a routine carotid surgery in 2011.

Yet after life-threatening complications set in, he experienced a realm unlike any other he had known. Jesus appeared in the pastoral scene, as close and real as any human contact.

“You’re not going to die,” he told Judkins, who said he came back into his body as he was rushed to emergency surgery.

The 83-year-old describes the encounter as “the peace that passes understanding.”

“It was such a profound experience for me. My faith and my belief deepened tremendously.

“It’s the most real thing that ever happened to me in my life - as real as being here.”

Judkins spoke about his experience at a seminar April 19-20 titled “The Near-Death Experience in Christian Perspective” at St.

Mark’s Episcopal Church in Little Rock.

The seminar was sponsored by the Institute for Theological Studies at St. Margaret’s.

Speakers included Dr. Jeff rey Long, a radiation oncologist and author of New York Times bestseller “Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences;” biomedical researcher and theologian Dr.

Michael Marsh; and Janice Miner Holden, professor of counseling with a special interest in paranormal experiences atthe University of North Texas in Denton.

Judkins is not alone, researchers told the 260 people gathered for the seminar. Between 10 and 20 percent of people who have a close brush with death report such experiences, Long said. The radiation oncologist has compiled an online database of near-death experiences at nderf.org, with more than 3,000 fi rst-person accounts from around the globe.

There’s no way to predict who will have a near-death experience, or NDE, Long said. “Near-death experiencers” comprise a random sample of the population - children and adults; physicians and scientists; clergy, religious people and atheists; and those who have never heard of the phenomenon, Long said.

No two experiences are alike, yet they share what Long terms “a consistent pattern of elements.” These include an out-of-body experience, passing into or through a tunnel, moving toward a brilliant light, encountering mystical beings or deceased relatives, a life review and a return to the body.

The experience is so real - or “hyper real” - that it stays with people forever, Holden said.

Decades later, they can recall each sensation in exquisite detail.

The Rev. Canon Chris Keller, director of the institute, used this analogy, drawn from fi rst-personreports: “It’s like being in a darkened theater for a matinee and then walking out into a sparklingly beautiful day. You wonder why you’ve spent that time indoors,” he said.

People who report a neardeath experience say it’s like that only so much more.

Skeptics Question Phenomenon

Skeptics question the otherworldly dimension of such experiences, seeking explanations within the realms of neuroscience or psychology.

One argument is that neardeath experiences are dreams, with their vivid landscapes produced by the subconscious mind. Another is that they are fragments of memory from the few moments before unconsciousness or while recovering from an unconscious state.

Marsh, who wrote his doctoral thesis in theology on out-of-body and near-death experiences, subscribes to the latter view.

It’s nearly impossible forresearchers to get an objective, third-person hold on such a subjective experience, he said. Something that fl ashes by in several seconds or minutes of real time can seem a much longer - and larger - experience in the mind.

If life after death brings us into the presence of God - which Marsh believes it does - surely we will find a realm beyond our ability to conceptualize, he said.

Why then do near-death experiences seem confined to visions familiar to our material senses? One woman reported an elaborate scene that included her laundry hanging on the line, Marsh said. More common are pastoral scenes with bright fields of flowers and cloudless blue skies.

Perhaps there’s a “both/ and” explanation, severalaudience members suggested. Perhaps the heavenly realm is beyond earthly description and our minds interpret it in symbolism we can understand.

Marsh also questioned the widely competing descriptions of Jesus reported by those who claim a near-death experience. His eye color varies from brown to blue to gold, Marsh said. His hair might be dark brown, light brown, curly and blond or white. Height ranges from “nothing exceptional” to “tall as a ceiling” to 100 feet.

People with other religious backgrounds encounter figures compatible with their belief systems, although the basic pattern of experience is similar worldwide, Long said.

A minority of people - about 10 percent - fi nd the experience disturbing, Long said. Some report visiting“hellish realms” of darkness and emotions of panic, fear and dislocation, Marsh said.

EXPERIENCE EVIDENCE

Long presented nine lines of evidence supporting the validity of near-death experiences. These include the crystal clear consciousness people report when supposedly unconscious and realistic out-of-body observations of what happened to them when measurable brain activity was fl at.

Many people comment on something they saw in the surgery room or outside of it. These observations later are validated by family members or staff .

At the heart of the issue are competing notions of the nature of consciousness, Holden said. The prevailing view in the scientifi c community is that the brain producesconsciousness. When the brain dies, consciousness is gone.

An alternate view is that the brain functions as a receiver and transmitter of consciousness, much like a cell phone receives and transmits communication, she said. When a cell phone is smashed on the ground, the voices of the people speaking aren’t destroyed. It is just the medium for communication that is gone. This view is compatible with the spiritual and religious belief in a soul, Holden said.

Other compelling evidence for Holden and Long are visual near-death experiences in the blind and meetings with deceased relatives. There are many reports of people meeting a sibling they didn’t know they had. Their parents later corroborate that they did indeed have a deceasedsibling about whom they had never been told, Long said.

The fact that lives are tangibly changed by the experience is another compelling argument, Long and Holden said. Many people report happier and more meaningful lives.

“Don’t fear death,” said Holly Vanhaverbeke, who shared her near-death experience at the symposium. “God loves you, pure and complete. He forgives. You’re here for a reason. You might not know what that reason is, (but it exists).”

None of the research is definitive, Holden said. It still requires a leap of faith.

Persuasive for her are what Scripture terms “fruits of the spirit” - “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.” (Galatians 5:22-23)