What happens when you die?
Does death spell the end of our existence or is there hope for more?
by Zeke Zeiler

Death is something we usually don't like to think about. It's mysterious, and it awaits all. Our personal experience gives us no answers, so we have questions. Does death mean the end of this life or the beginning of another? Does anyone know what happens after death? Has anyone been there? What does it feel like?

83% of Americans say they believe in heaven. Is there evidence, or merely faith? With modern scientific methods we are beginning to see what men have historically had to speculate about. Most cultures have predicted life after death. One of the oldest Hebrew writers said, "he has also set eternity into their heart," Is it possible that God himself is the reason for the universal sense of the continuation of life after death?

This may explain why Egyptians, Orientals, Babylonians, Persians, and Greeks believed that death was only the mortal end of man and that the soul remained immortal. Plato and Socrates wrote about the death experience. Jewish and Christian theologians believed in an eternal soul, judgment, heaven and hell.

But is there evidence to support the almost universal assumption of life after death?

Dr Maurice S. Rawlings thinks so. In his book, "Beyond Death's Door", the leading heart specialist recounts the experiences of individuals who have survived clinical death and return to talk about it. An expert in CPR, Dr. Rawlings resuscitates those who have no pulse, have quit breathing, and are flat-lining.

And what do so they say? From thousands of interviews here is a summary of the "typical" out of the body experience:

• The injured or seriously ill struggles to survive while medical personnel try to revive them.
• They watch themselves leave their body, float around the room, and observe all that is said and done.
• There is a sense of incredible clarity of thought and presence of mind.
• A loud noise often signals the beginning of a fast journey through a long dark tunnel with a light at the end.
• At the end, they emerge into a brightly lit area where they are greeted by a "being of light".
• Usually the deceased is turned back at this point, but not always.
• Some go on to greet loved ones who have died and find they are in an extraordinary place of peace and joy.
• Others find themselves in a dark, dreary place of extreme torment, described as a dungeon or cave where they encounter grotesque people who may be lurking to the shadows or along a burning lake of fire.
• Finally they find themselves back in his body where he may feel the shock of an applied electric current or chest pains from someone pushing on his chest.

These experiences usually affect a person's life and attitudes profoundly. If the experience is pleasant, one is not afraid to die again. If it is unpleasant, they can be tormented by the memories. Although we can't honestly say they have truly died, these adventurers are our best eyewitnesses of what lies beyond this life:

Scientific Evidence