Anyone here believe in near death experiences or ghosts??

Jeanwah

Byrnzie wrote:

Shawshank wrote:

I did take a trip to Gettysburg a few years ago with my wife. I'm a huge history nut. There is just something about that place that is just indescribable.

I'd like to go there one day.

Me too. My Dad and sister went there because my dad is a military history nut and although they believe in spirits, no one in my family has seen one and didn't see anything there. But everyone came back from Gettysburg saying the energy there is just haunting; that you can just feel the presence of something else in the air, out on the fields, and all around. It's quite strong, even if you see nothing.

Shawshank, cool pic, wow!

redrock

he still stands wrote:

I think it is an evolutionary miracle that the pineal gland (your third eye, according to some of us... with this as its ONLY purpose) floods your brain with DMT at death.
)

I think you will find that the pineal gland has other functions. Also, this mass release of DMT at moment of death and the cause of these 'experiences' is still speculation. Sorry to burst your bubble.

he still stands

redrock wrote:

he still stands wrote:

I think it is an evolutionary miracle that the pineal gland (your third eye, according to some of us... with this as its ONLY purpose) floods your brain with DMT at death.)

I think you will find that the pineal gland has other functions. Also, this mass release of DMT at moment of death and the cause of these 'experiences' is still speculation. Sorry to burst your bubble.

you are correct... I should have said that producing DMT is the only concrete purpose known. It "plays a role" in sexual functions, sleep, the seasons, mood, and is a cataylst for entheogens, but it remains very mysterious as to what chemical processes actually occur. For example; melatonin is definitely produced by the pineal gland, but the function of melatonin in humans is unclear.

redrock

The role of the melatonin produced by the pineal gland is clear and documented. Consequences of problems with the pineal gland are also very clear and documented. There MAY be other roles as well but these things are still being looked into. As I said, the link of the pineal gland to the near death 'visions' are just speculation. Should there be such evidence, it is said that the high and the visions are not at all the same as if you would take the drug itself.

he still stands

redrock wrote:

The role of the melatonin produced by the pineal gland is clear and documented.

Source please? Here is mine:

"The function(s) of melatonin in humans is not clear"

Axelrod J (1970). "The pineal gland". Endeavour 29 (108): 144–8.

redrock

You probably googled your source, google others - I really don't have the time now. I had lots of time when my husband was in hospital for 7 months with massive brain hemorrhage (in all ventricles, etc. No bit of the brain spared). I was given plenty of info, abstracts, spoken to the neurosurgeons, etc. regarding the functions of the various parts of the brain and what happens when they are damaged. Pineal gland was one of them. I assure you, it's role is documented.

OnTheEdge

Shawshank wrote:

First of all, I believe in God, and I am a Christian. I know that some fellow Christians frown upon thoughts and beliefs such as the ones I'm discussing here, but it's just an interest of mine. I haven't had any real "ghost" experiences, other than a picture I took on an old battlefield a few years ago, but I thought I would include them in the topic as well. Since things always seem to turn towards absolutes regarding God, or no God, religion etc....I was just curious if there are people here who believe in near death experiences or ghosts.

This is something I never talk about, but I was curious what others take on this might be. About 35 years ago, my dad was involved in a horrendous car accident. He was in a coma for over a month. He actually died and was revived 3 times....the first time was at the scene of the accident and the next two times were in the emergency room. He remembers vividly, being above the accident, and able to describe the condition of his car, the location, the number of ambulances, and the clothing the EMT's were wearing, even the names of one of the EMT guys. When he got to the emergency room, he said he felt as though he was "floating" above the room, looking down at himself. Even though he was clinically dead twice, he only remembers seeing this happen for one long stretch of time. He could describe in detail what the doctors did to him....along with one procedure that only the doctors actually could confirm had occurred. He was able to describe the room in detail, including the color and pattern of the floor tile, even though he was only in there that one time. Towards the end, he said he could see a group of people starting to surround his body, but they weren't doctors. He said at that moment he knew they were there to take him, but he didn't want to go. As a side note, he felt as though he was a failed father before this accident occurred, and he wanted to have a second chance. He said he screamed that he could not go, that he wanted to have a second chance. He kept pleading and fighting with them. And that was it. That's all he remembers of it.

He doesn't talk about it much, but this is something I've always been fascinated about. If it wasn't my dad, I don't think I could have ever believed it. There are a lot of people that die and come back who don't have any experiences at all. Even my dad didn't have much belief in God, or anything after, until this happened. Seeing tunnels of light, and feeling good I can give to being the shutdown of the brain. But seeing, in detail, your surroundings when you are flatlined is something different. The one doctor who was assigned to him the entire time, was able to confirm everything to my grandmother afterwards, including the procedure that was done and how it was done. My grandmother even went down to the ER area that received him and was able to see that the brown and white tile floor with the figure 8 patterns was exactly like my dad described....along with the number of beds, the desk location and other details.

Anyway, just something I thought I would share and see if anyone else has had any similar experiences with people they know.

Nice story. There are many stories like this that help me keep the faith. Probably the strangest thing that ever happened to me (without going into to much detail)was the time I died in a dream and I was floating to heaven and decided to come back just to wake up with the alarm clock going off telling me to get ready for work. It has always stuck with me though, I will never forget it, it felt diferent.

he still stands

redrock wrote:

You probably googled your source, google others - I really don't have the time now. I had lots of time when my husband was in hospital for 7 months with massive brain hemorrhage (in all ventricles, etc. No bit of the brain spared). I was given plenty of info, abstracts, spoken to the neurosurgeons, etc. regarding the functions of the various parts of the brain and what happens when they are damaged. Pineal gland was one of them. I assure you, it's role is documented.

well then... if you "assure" me then I guess that is better than a source from a scientific journal. :?

OutOfBreath

he still stands wrote:

redrock wrote:

The role of the melatonin produced by the pineal gland is clear and documented.

Source please? Here is mine:

"The function(s) of melatonin in humans is not clear"

Axelrod J (1970). "The pineal gland". Endeavour 29 (108): 144–8.

May I point out that the source appears to be dated 1970? Medical research has gone a long way since then.
We learned alot about melatonin in psychology classes, and I know it's involved heavily in regulating sleep.

Here's the wiki on melatonin:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin#Roles_in_humans

(edit)
Here's the wiki on Axelrod. Seems he went on to find out more specifically about the pineal gland in later research.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Axelrod

Peace
Dan

OutOfBreath

as for near-death-experiences and ghosts and such, I'm more of an agnostic really.
That means, I do not believe in souls. But I think the people that experience them are experiencing something that may have an external reality of sorts in at least some cases.

I keep the door open, but mostly agree with the sceptics.

Peace
Dan

JonnyPistachio

Shawshank wrote:

Byrnzie wrote:

Shawshank wrote:

other than a picture I took on an old battlefield a few years ago

Let's see it then.

Well, I'm pretty torn on the whole ghost thing. I have a deep rooted faith in God, and I'm not saying there can't be ghosts, but it just seems to go against some of my beliefs. With that being said, I did take a trip to Gettysburg a few years ago with my wife. I'm a huge history nut. There is just something about that place that is just indescribable. The vibe I got was crazy. Every so often I would just have these really weird feelings, and the hair on my neck would stand on end.

Well, I'd always read these trip reports about people getting these "orbs" in their pictures. To me, they were just specs of dust in the air. So my wife and I go out on the battlefield one night. I kept bugging her about going out on a "ghost hunt" just for fun. I'll never forget. The moon was full, clouds were moving fast across the night sky, and the wind was brisk. So I hold the camera in front of me and take some pictures. I felt like a complete fool because it was black out, other than the glow of the moon, and I'm snapping pics. Anyway, I snap one and I say...."hey that looks like an orb" just kind of half joking. So we sat there analyzing it a bit. Took a few more and I started seeing more of them. I then hold the camera out and I take 2 shots within about 3 seconds. The first shot showed nothing. Out of the corner of my eye I see something literally fly towards me just for a split second as the flash went off. The second shot showed this.................



Man, the instant I saw that in the view screen, I hauled it to the car. I have never run that fast in my life. My wife is freaking out behind me because all she knew is I was running my butt off to the car, but she had no idea why. Holy crap, we laughed about it afterwards, but man I think that was the most scared I've ever been. The picture has always intrigued me, it looks like something flying, with like wings spread out and it's head turned towards me with big black eyes. Creeps me out just thinking about it.

dude, I cant believe you ran and left your wife with that hideous ghost!

Ms. Haiku

I didn't get this *idea* of events until about 10 years after my open-heart surgery, but I have a sense that during my second open-heart surgery I had the chance to leave or stay. I was perpendicular to the floor, even though my body was parallel to the table. I saw someone who I thought was my dad look through the operating room window. I immediately went back into my body as I was scared of my dad, and I basically hid from him.

On some level this *memory* does not make sense as my dad did not look through the operating room window. However, he did say I was in trouble during that operation. All I know is that I ended up with A LOT more scars after the second operation than the first including a tracheotomy scar which I didn't have the first time around.

I just put it up to a guardian angel doing what needed to be done to make sure I didn't leave.

Gern Blansten

Near death experiences are certainly real but as mentioned the mind is a powerful thing.....

Ghosts? They don't exist....if they did they would be all over the place

weenie

Gern Blansten wrote:

Near death experiences are certainly real but as mentioned the mind is a powerful thing.....

Ghosts? They don't exist....if they did they would be all over the place

But how can you be sure that they don't exist? Maybe you, and the overwhelming majority of the rest of us, just can't see them.... :eh:

Gern Blansten

weenie wrote:

Gern Blansten wrote:

Near death experiences are certainly real but as mentioned the mind is a powerful thing.....

Ghosts? They don't exist....if they did they would be all over the place

But how can you be sure that they don't exist? Maybe you, and the overwhelming majority of the rest of us, just can't see them.... :eh:

yeah but I can't see invisible spaghetti people either...do they exist?

John Briggs 2008

There are those who believe and those who know. Experiences in such realms are real. Do any of us have the answers as to how or why? Some would excuse it as seeing what one wants to see. Some things are just beyond our reasoning and understanding still. The world and all that is within it and beyond it is constructed of energy. Energy can take many different forms. I have seen and experienced things that no one would believe on this forum for the most part but the other people who experienced them and saw the same things as I did on a few occasions remember just like I do.

OnTheEdge

Gern Blansten wrote:

Near death experiences are certainly real but as mentioned the mind is a powerful thing.....

Ghosts? They don't exist....if they did they would be all over the place

Maybe they are! :think:

weenie

Gern Blansten wrote:

weenie wrote:

Gern Blansten wrote:

Near death experiences are certainly real but as mentioned the mind is a powerful thing.....

Ghosts? They don't exist....if they did they would be all over the place

But how can you be sure that they don't exist? Maybe you, and the overwhelming majority of the rest of us, just can't see them.... :eh:

yeah but I can't see invisible spaghetti people either...do they exist?

Who knows? You can't say that something doesn't exist just because you can't see it. Can you see radio signals or wireless internet service? You only know they exist because there is an end product you can hear, feel, see or touch. Just for grins, let's say that the "end product" of a ghost is to scare the hell out of living beings. In Shawshank's case, I'd say that whatever "it" was, it accomplished just that. He felt something out there in that field. He not only felt the hair on his neck stand up, he has a scary looking image that we can all "see" was out there on an otherwise clear night. I'm not arguing for or against the existence of ghosts, I'm just saying that it's not really logical to make an absolute statement about the situation one way or the other. The OP's intent was to hear other people's experiences and opinions.

I think it was Einstein who said something to the effect that intelligent people are the ones who realize that they know very little. Man only uses a tiny portion of the brain matter that's available to him. JMO but there's probably a lot out there that we're missing.

Gern Blansten

John Briggs 2008 wrote:

There are those who believe and those who know. Experiences in such realms are real. Do any of us have the answers as to how or why? Some would excuse it as seeing what one wants to see. Some things are just beyond our reasoning and understanding still. The world and all that is within it and beyond it is constructed of energy. Energy can take many different forms. I have seen and experienced things that no one would believe on this forum for the most part but the other people who experienced them and saw the same things as I did on a few occasions remember just like I do.

http://www.skepdic.com/randi.html

congrats man! contact this dude and get your million!!!!

Gern Blansten

weenie wrote:

Who knows? You can't say that something doesn't exist just because you can't see it. Can you see radio signals or wireless internet service? You only know they exist because there is an end product you can hear, feel, see or touch. Just for grins, let's say that the "end product" of a ghost is to scare the hell out of living beings. In Shawshank's case, I'd say that whatever "it" was, it accomplished just that. He felt something out there in that field. He not only felt the hair on his neck stand up, he has a scary looking image that we can all "see" was out there on an otherwise clear night. I'm not arguing for or against the existence of ghosts, I'm just saying that it's not really logical to make an absolute statement about the situation one way or the other. The OP's intent was to hear other people's experiences and opinions.

I think it was Einstein who said something to the effect that intelligent people are the ones who realize that they know very little. Man only uses a tiny portion of the brain matter that's available to him. JMO but there's probably a lot out there that we're missing.

and I gave my opinion.....they don't exist

if they do exist please prove it to us