PROLOGUE

THE BIG QUESTION

Does our consciousness—mind, soul, or spirit—end with the death of our body?^*1 Or does it continue in some way, perhaps in another realm or dimension of the universe? This is the “big question” thoughtful people have asked throughout the ages.

Let us come down to the bottom line right away. Are we entirely mortal? Or is there an element or facet of our existence that survives the death of our body? This question is of the utmost importance for our life and our future.

In one form or another, the idea that consciousness persists beyond the living brain and body has been affirmed in thinking about the nature of reality for thousands of years. It was based, however, on personal insight, handed down on the strength of its intrinsic meaningfulness and spiritual authority. In recent years more solid evidence regarding the “big question” has come to light. Some of it has been subjected to controlled observation, and some of the observations have been recorded. In the chapters that follow we review some of the truly credible and robust strands of the evidence.

There are three fundamental questions we need to address, and we address each of them in turn.

First, is there such a thing as consciousness not associated with a living brain? There appears to be “something” that can be experienced on occasion, and even engaged in communication, and it appears to be the consciousness of a person who is no longer alive. We review the robust strands of the evidence in this regard in part 1.

Second, assuming that there is “something” we can experience that appears to be a discarnate consciousness, what does this mean for our understanding of the world—and of the human being in the world? Who and what are we, if our consciousness can survive our body? And what kind of a world is that in which consciousness can exist beyond the brain and the body? These are the questions we take up in part 2.

Third, what kind of explanation do we get for the possible persistence of consciousness beyond the brain and the body, and for contact and communication with such a consciousness, when we confront the evidence with the latest insights coming from the natural sciences? This is the question we ask in part 3.

These tasks are ambitious, but not beyond the scope of science. We know that conscious experience can occur in the temporary absence of brain function: this is the case in so-called NDEs—near-death experiences. Could conscious experience occur also in the permanent absence of brain function—when the individual has died? It makes sense to ask this question as well, because it is important, meaningful, and not without observational evidence.

Mainstream science—the science taught in most schools and colleges—does not confront these questions: it denies the very possibility that consciousness could exist in the absence of the living organism. However, unlike the Ten Commandments Moses brought to his people, the tenets of mainstream science are not engraved in stone. In its next development science could expand its scope to investigate phenomena that address these questions. And when it does, it is likely to reach insights that are of vital interest not just to scientists, but to all people in the living, and perhaps not entirely mortal, human community.