Of Time and Life
Chapters 2 and 3 in AFTER by Dr. Bruce Greyson highlight two common occurrences during Near Death Experiences (NDEs) – the slowing or absence of time and life reviews. And, though at the end of these chapters, Dr. Greyson is still in a place of awe and wonder about HOW these things happen, he does recognize that these phenomenon are not new. In his research he found centuries old stories. And, I would add that according to The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, experiences like these have been around for thousands of years, if not many many lifetimes…and not just at the time of near physical death.
“Extreme clarity and speed of thought” (pg 29) is commonly described by those who are in a situation of sudden and unexpected death. The experience is felt as time slowing down, giving the person time to think fully and completely through logical and even helpful steps during their NDE. Greyson explains a few instances like this with people falling from a ladder and a cliff, and one in the midst of drowning.
“Some of them say that time still existed, but that the NDE seemed to be outside the flow of time. Everything in their NDE seemed to be happening at once, or they seemed to move forward and backward in time. Others say that they realized in the NDE that time no longer existed, that the very concept of time became meaningless.” (Chapter 3, pg 33)
In yogic terms, experiences like this can happen in states of dhyana (meditation) and samyama (integration). They can occur as we might be able to understand fully certain aspects of our Self, detach ourselves from all the distractions and ties to mundane life, leaving behind a clear and present consciousness within various realms. For instance, Yoga Sutra III.49 states, “By mastery over the senses of perception, the yogi’s speed of body, senses, and mind matches that of the soul, independent of the primary causes of nature.” (from Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by BKS Iyengar)
Heightened senses are also experienced within NDEs. This makes sense as once all hindrances of “primary nature” are removed, things like pure sight and pure hearing arise with no obstacle of space or time or physical malfunction. This removal of space and time as we know it in normal life seems to fluidly lead consciousness toward the experience that one might have in an NDE – seeing or truly reliving their whole life in review.
If you have heard anything about NDEs, I would suspect that the tunnel of light and the Life Review come up as the most common knowledge. And, I appreciate the added layers that show up in the accounts given by Dr. Greyson. The phenomenon that occur within a Life Review for some of the research subjects also appear in the third chapter of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali as “naturally super” powers (siddhis) – experiencing other’s thoughts and feelings (III.17 and 19), acquiring knowledge of the past and future (III.16 and 18), super sensitive powers of perception (III.26), friendliness toward one and all (III.24), etc…These are the experiences that lead many to a greater understanding of Self and Universe, or Self and Divinity after an NDE, bringing us back to this juxtaposition of spirituality with Dr. Greyson’s scientific study.
“I was able to observe the scene absolutely, positively, unconditionally. In other words not with the horrendous emotional ill-feelings…I experienced it with this unconditional love that is only God’s eyes, or the eyes of Jesus Christ, or the light of Jesus, or the light of Buddha enlightened, the spiritual entity.” (Tom Sawyer)
“Not only was I me, I was also my mother. And my dad. And my brother. We were all one.” (Barbara Harris Whitfield)
For these subjects it seems that their NDE was a learning process that helped them cope or find meaning in life after the experience. Dr. Greyson mentions that even outside of NDEs, life reviews have been a tool for counselors to help their patients overcome trauma, loss, and guilt. One of the promises of a yoga practice is to remove all the veils that keep us blind to our own Divine Truth, whatever that means to you. As Tom and Barbara found out above, the freedom from judgement and ill will for others who are suffering just like us, and/or the ability to see life from all perspectives, allows for much more understanding and clarity in any of life’s experiences.
Yoga hopes that you do not have to be facing physical death in order to experience such mental freedom and spiritual clarity! This is why I will be curious as we proceed in this book if “near death” is the only time NDEs are identified to happen, or if Dr. Greyson investigates other states of consciousness where similar experiences might occur.
