Heart Attacks and Mortality and Young Professionals

About two weeks ago my doctor notified me that I had experienced a heart attack previously. I had the "event" about 4 or 5 years ago and remember when it happened and how it was in some ways a new beginning. Having the doctor confirm it didn't sink in immediately. At first it was no big deal, I mean I knew it when it happened. Still, there is something about having it confirmed that is on my mind. It is not the idea that I could have died that is interesting to me, I mean we do all die and that should not surprise any of us. What I think is truly interesting is that I didn't die.

So, recently I came across this article. Zen Haven - How Near-Death Experiences Transform People. We all know that a number of people have had Near Death Experiences (NDEs) and I am just one of hundreds of thousands of others. What intrigued me about this article was the statistics of what leads up to them, I had never considered it before.

Here is a quote from the article. "Before such an episode occurs there are stressors, conditions in the experiencer’s life, that point to either unrest or inattention. And these are present universally. What caught my eye with near-death and near-death-like states were episodes that occurred under these conditions". The author then lists a series of "stressors" that are common among people who do have an NDE and going through major life changes is listed. Well, I was in the middle of my divorce and my life was full of stress in every area of my life.

So, untold numbers of people have had NDEs. Many were in a physicians care when they had them and were being monitored. After they had their experience many came back and completely changed their lives. Many report similar things, being above their body, going through a tunnel of light, meeting family and friends who have passed away previously, sensing a higher being... Many, if not most, then report knowing that they had to return to this life and not wanting to. They are very personal experiences and it has always fascinated me that there are those who wish to trivialize them.

Every now and then someone who has had an NDE will come forth and write a book or go on television and discuss their experience. Recently, a doctor named Dr. Eben Alexander wrote a book about his experience. Esquire magazine then published an article attempting to "debunk" his book. The author questioned whether or not Dr. Eben could have been making up a story and what his medical condition was. Pretty sloppy work, either the man was in a medically induced coma or he was not. Either the man had a serious medical condition or he did not. It seems highly unlikely that he intentionally wanted to be in a coma and almost die.

Therein is the problem for debunkers. If we assume that all people reporting NDEs are liars then why do some people who almost die feel a need to lie about it? While I had been told that I was a fantastic candidate for a heart attack, it certainly was not something I sought out just so I could have a good story to tell at parties. In fact, I do not go into detail about my experience online and have really only discussed it with close friends and family when it happened. In response to the Esquire article, another writer corrected the article. Esquire article on Eben Alexander distorts the facts.

Here is what I am attempting to examine. Why should anyone be bothered by the Dr's NDE. Look at it this way, the people who have NDEs are already at extreme stress levels, suddenly have serious physical challenges and come back saying that they had a mental experience while it was all going on. What is there to question? Why not just chalk it up to a heightened dream state? I have often said that an NDE is of value only to the person having it, it is not proof of anything for anyone else. Up until 2 weeks ago, I could not "prove" that I had had a heart attack because I refused to see the doctor after it happened. I told a few people at the time; but, that is circumstantial evidence at best for anyone other than me. So why do so many people feel a need to attack the Dr for telling his story?

In my opinion what many fear is that people who had NDEs are telling the truth. It is easier to believe they are liars or delusional than to accept the possibility that there is more to the human experience than the physical world that we see. Whether one is a believer or not, once they have an NDE, the question of whether or not there is more to the human experience than this present physical existence is no longer an issue in their life. From a control standpoint that is a very scary thing.

This world is managed using a carrot and a stick. Our fears and fetishes are used to control us. People are trained to chase treasures be they physical (money, sex, objects) or mental (ego). All the things used to control us rely upon our believing that you only go around once, that you only have this one existence. Esquire magazine is about the "sophisticated" up and comers. It is a magazine written for young stock brokers and presents them with all the things that they are to seek out, fancy cars, pretty women with class, the newest watch, the place to vacation, the house to own. It is a continual reminder of what their god should be, success in the material world.

One of the things that happens in an NDE is that you recognize you are dying. There is a moment when you know that you have passed some point and accept that you are not coming back, there is a moment of acceptance to the situation. I have almost died more than once; but, only have had one NDE and it was the one time that I knew I had passed that point. It is one thing to know in the abstract that you will die one day and quite another to face that moment whether it be real or imagined. When I was a young teenager another kid attacked me and I ended up choking him. As I regularly tore telephone books in half and was a gymnast, the last thing you wanted was my hands on your neck. As he was passing out and had been denied air for more than a minute, a look passed over his face. I could see the moment he knew there was nothing he could do and that I was not going to stop. We never talked about it after; but, I saw that moment of acceptance in his eyes and he changed after that.

Where am I going with all this. From what I see people fear an afterlife more than death itself. Heck, the fear of death is what is used to motivate us to benefit the economic system in ways that don't make sense for us or society. The people that have cheated the financial system are afraid of death; but, believe in it. They are even more afraid of there being an afterlife so they deny it. What they really fear is that there are consequences for what you do in this life, what they really fear is that the hierarchy in the afterlife doesn't give them an insiders advantage. While most of us hope for an afterlife, these sad people hope there is not.