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"ANOTHER LOOK..." is an ongoing column I write for Vital Signs Newsletter, a quarterly publication of the International Association For Near-Death Studies. Each segment will appear here from now on, as well as in the Newsletter. This new feature gives me a format with which to explore varied issues about near-death states. Should you wish to make a comment or want to suggest future topics, please feel free to contact me. I may be able to use your suggestions directly. Thank you. P.M.H. Atwater, L.H.D., Ph.D. (Hon.)
P.M.H.Atwater, L.H.D., Ph.D. (Hon.) P. O. Box 7691 Charlottesville, VA 22906-7691
© 1999 P.M.H.Atwater, L.H.D., Ph.D. (Hon.)
I have just finished reading THE LAST LAUGH: A NEW PHILOSOPHY
OF NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES, APPARITIONS, AND THE PARANORMAL (Hampton Roads Publishing
Co., 1999), by Raymond A. Moody, Jr., Ph.D., M.D. And, I am overcome. . . with
joy! If my response surprises you, read on.
THE LAST LAUGH is not for the fainthearted, as the book is filled with one bitter
and angry diatribe after another. In it, Dr. Moody refutes much of what has
previously been attributed to him about near-death experiences, saying, in essence,
that it's his publishers fault for leaving out the backmatter from LIFE AFTER
LIFE - where he explained in great detail that the phenomenon cannot be used
as scientific evidence for life after death. He rails against his treatment
from the media, puts down IANDS as little more than a hobby club, and goes on
to "set the record straight" and reclaim his rightful "voice."
Any researcher, myself included, can empathize with his complaints about publishers
and the way books are promoted. For instance, in my latest book, CHILDREN OF
THE NEW MILLENNIUM, the three appendices were edited out because, as I was told,
there wasn't enough room for them. I refused to accept that verdict, however,
and insist-ed that they include two pages after the text: one advertising that
the missing appendices would be available over my website or from me personally,
and giving particulars; and the other page to advertise IANDS and their website.
This was done. I am satisfied that people will at least have recourse - a place
to turn for more specific in-formation if they are interested. And the media,
well, how does anyone deal with a "machine" that prefers sensationalism
to facts?
And I can share his frustration with the litany of misinformation that has resulted,
much of it fed by the so-called "experts" who per- petuate, to use
his term, "nonsense." Several times last year I con- sidered denouncing
the "near-death movement" myself, for I no longer recognized what
was being said by all the books and talk-shows about the subject. And I have
been vocal about this discrepancy (even more so in the Subtext to the Children's
book, and THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO THE NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE - due out
later this year).
Still, I can't help but wonder about the veracity of Dr. Moody's complaints,
as he has been riding the "gravy train" of his first book for twenty-five
years, and it has paid him well. He is an excellent speaker, a lovable and likeable
man, so, why hasn't he spoken up before? Why hasn't he made some attempt to
publish, even at his own expense (as I did), what he really wanted to say? If
anyone in this world has had numerous opportunities to make a significant difference,
it is him. So why the rancor? And why now? Sorry, this makes no sense to me.
I can appreciate his complaints, but not his excuses.
In THE LAST LAUGH, Dr. Moody reveals how little he knows about near-death states
and current research. . . yet he also reveals how much he understands about
them. And therein hangs the genius in this book. If you can wade through the
first half and skip over the diatribes, what awaits you, in my opinion, is well
worth reading.
The main point of the first half, though, is important. And, that is, language
utterly fails us in trying to communicate and interpret near-death and otherworldly
states of consciousness. Because there is no acceptable lexicon we can use,
attempts to examine them continuously run afoul of dogmatic scientists, defensive
parapsychologists, and fearful religionists. Dr. Moody offers that, since these
people have a vested interest in keeping controversy ongoing, humor is the only
viable solution. He thus brands himself a "playful paranormalist"
who recognizes that the real subject at hand is entertainment. To his way of
thinking, the "alluringly unknown" thrill us, tantalize us, entertain
us, and keep us coming back for more - whether to hear the stories of others
or to learn how to experience "the paranormal" for ourselves.
I don't know that I would have used the word "entertainment" as insistently
as did Dr. Moody; "emotions" or "passion" would have been
more specific, I think. For instance, back in the sixties, I learned that the
only way reliable results could be obtained in experiments regarding altered
states of consciousness was to involve the participant's emotions. No emotions
- lousy, if any, results. Lots of emotions - fantastic results. We now know
that the more enthusiastic, excited, and confident a person is, the more likely
he or she will be to exhibit psychic ("intuitive") abilities. In other
words, healthy, happy people tend to be psychic. I wouldn't call this entertainment
as much as I would "common sense."
Once you make it to the second half of the book, this is where Dr. Moody shines.
Skillfully he shows us how, what he calls the "paranormal," is actually
a source of knowledge - not a "field of knowledge." Taking full advantage
of his expertise in philosophy, he illustrates the importance of dreams, visions,
and near-death experiences by giving historical examples. Among them, what happened
to Rene Descartes, on November 10, 1619, when he shut himself in a room for
a day and a night and had a "mindquake." From the new information
that poured into his mind came the foundation for analytic geometry and the
formulation of mathematical principles in quantifying all the sciences. By going
beyond known bounds and limits, by failing to follow ordered regularity, "The
paranormal," says Dr. Moody, "is a game of rule-breaking...new truth
out of old knowledge."
He continues: "Indeed, part of what the public finds to be the most entertaining
about the paranormal are the ideas that the paranormal suggests and the thought
that they may be true! Playful paranormalists hold that what begins as extraordinary
entertainment could end as extraordinary revelation, if we would just allow
the show to go on, letting it show us whatever it may have to show us (if anything)
about what the big show is really all about."
Here's the clincher: "Because people who have near-death experiences can
now intelligibly, and rapidly, communicate with one another about what they
encounter, and can pass some sort of sense of it along to the rest of us, a
consensual reality is emerging. Today, a common language of the near-death realm
having become available, we are taking a collective imaginative leap across
another kind of frontier. And we ordinary folk are enjoying the adventure."
While he urges that special techniques be used to help anyone plumb the depths
of self and reopen natural pathways to the "unknown," he succeeds
best when he illustrates how unconditional love, the central theme of near-death
states, is the real goal behind all the hype, all the stories, and all the research.
My joy in reading this book is hearing someone else besides myself say it's
time to quit being so "hung up" on the exactitude that has become
near-death dogma and take another look at the phenomenon.
The core state, irrespective of scenario types and their varied descriptions,
plus the overall changes that result, psychologically and physiologically, suggest
that near-death states advance the growth of the human family while informing
our social structure and our desire to know why we exist.
Dr. Moody calls this "entertainment." Well, from the point of view
of a playful paranormalist, I suppose that's as good a term as any. But that's
not what I call it. My term is "passion" - as in "a passion for
life, life everlasting."
Near-death states are part of a larger genre - transformations of consciousness.
The "scientific method" as presently defined will not work with their
study, as there are too many variables. From the beginning of my involvement
in the field, I have relied more on observational analysis (non-verbal body
language) than I ever did on what experiencers said. Thus, none of my work is
anecdotal dependent; that's why it's so thorough.
We can, once again, learn from Dr. Moody. We can lighten up and redefine ourselves
and what we think our message is. As experiencers, perhaps it is simply to express
and live the love we have come to know through our brush with death. As researchers,
maybe it wraps more around our ability to help others recognize the potential
within themselves to experience more of themselves, than it does to clarify
and justify.
Science hasn't evolved enough to fully address the significance of transformational
states of consciousness. But I submit that we have, like Raymond Moody, advanced
to the stage where we can at last recognize the extent of what we do not know.
_____________________________________________________
P.M.H.Atwater, L.H.D., Ph.D. (Hon.) is the author of many books concerning near-death states,
the latest being FUTURE MEMORY, CHILDREN OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM, and THE COMPLETE
IDIOT'S GUIDE TO THE NEAR-DEATH EXPERI-ENCE. Check out her website at www.pmhatwater.com
for more information about her other books, the Subtext, and her "Brain
Shift/ Spirit Shift" model for exploring transformations of consciousness.