ever had an out-of-body experience?

rem

Mary,

Why must you always insinuate that I believe people are lying? People can easily be MISTAKEN without purposely lying.

Like I said, all we have here is a STORY about something that happened 12 years ago. The surgeon RECOLLECTS what happened, but the actual hard data is nowhere to be found (actual logs from the monitoring instruments).

How do we know how sensitive his monitoring instruments were from 12+ years ago?

Again, how do you know how much or little knowledge the patient had about the procedure before hand? It's quite possible that she dreamed the sequence seconds before going under, as DrWatsn pointed out. Dreams are usually extremely quick, but seem like they last a long time.

This is just a silly account to use as evidence for any type of soul or paranormal activity. There is no meat to this. There is nothing extraordinary about it.

The dentures story is just lame - it's common knowledge that some people in comas can hear what's going on around them. Lommmel's theory is just ridiculous - so if my arm is amputated, I lose part of my consciousness? That's got to be the most stupid thing I ever heard.

Should I expect better from Reader's Digest? I really don't know.

rem
Mary

Why must you always insinuate that I believe people are lying? People can easily be MISTAKEN without purposely lying

My mistake. Your posting (to me) suggests that you believe many of these people are simply lying when there's no rational explanation.
The surgeon RECOLLECTS what happened, but the actual hard data is nowhere to be found (actual logs from the monitoring instruments).
How do we know how sensitive his monitoring instruments were from 12+ years ago?

Oh now come on.........you're suggesting that the this woman had her heart brought to a standstill, the blood drained from her body and you're wondering how senstive the monitoring instruments were??? If you want to see the actual logs from the monitoring instruments from this particular operation, I would suggest that you contact the doctor directly. Here's some info on him. http://www.near-death.com/experiences/experts07.html
This is just a silly account to use as evidence for any type of soul or paranormal activity. There is no meat to this. There is nothing extraordinary about it.

Rem, this is NOT a "silly account". It's a very intriging account whether you believe she was hallucinating or having a real NDE.
Here's another link that may interest you. Some in the Scientific community really wants to put it to the test----to have verifiable evidence that could back up the claims of those who have these NDE's.
http://www.near-death.com/experiences/evidence02.html
http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research11.html
drwtsn32

Mary,
I am with rem... I'm not at all calling this woman a liar. I simply believe it is more likely that she or the doctor is remember incorrectly. It's no secret that I am skeptical of the supernatural. :-)
Some in the Scientific community really wants to put it to the test
I fully support and encourage true scientific testing to confirm this. It would be interesting.
Mary

I fully support and encourage true scientific testing to confirm this. It would be interesting.
Me too........you and Rem both owe me a beer when it's proven.
Mr Fool

I have had OOB-experiences many times, often on a hihgher level of reality than I have here.
Is it not the divine Watchtower society who claims it´s not possible to leave our physical body before death?!?
I can prove for myself that they are 100% wrong.
poppers

Well, this is a first for me - someone resurrecting one of my posts. Tell us more, Mr Fool.
Mr Fool

I have two ways to have an out-of-body-experience:
1. I wake up mentally in a dream, realizing that I´m dreaming (like a lucid dream) but with a higher clarity, understanding that my physical body is asleep in the bed. Once I mentally wake up I can float, fly and vist places with will.
2. The second method is to let the physical body fall in sleep (optimal time is early mornings when the physical body is realxed and almost rested) and let the mind remain awake. For example focus on something, it can be my breathing or a mental walk in a familiar area.
One of the signs that I'm very close to "get out" is a kind of vibrating sound that can almost paralyze the body. I know many that recognize this sound/electric experience bur they have not been aware their mind are very close to leave their physical body.
I can get "spiritually high" several of days after a strong experience. So, efter all, JW are more close to this then they understand (a hint; the name of one of their magazines) . All anyone need to have (for this experience) is awareness, a calm mind and to be mentally Awake!
Like I said, lucid dreams are very similar, but in a lower level of clarity, somewhere between an OOB-experience and a normal dream.
I know people who claim to have seen and talked to their dead relatives, seen fragments of past lifes and so on. I have not fonfirmed that myself,
but the reality of the experience is something extraordinary, ways better than anything else I have experienced in this physical world.
For a JW this is occult and "is trongly influenced by Satan". For me it´s awareness in its most lovely form.
BONEZZ

For lucid dreaming, try...GALANTAMINE...it works.
-BONEZZ
poppers

My limited experiences have always been spontaneous, without any intent to bring them about. It seems the key is becoming lucid during the dream state or remaining mentally awake while the body falls asleep. I've heard of each of these exit methods before and have tried to bring them about, but have never been successful at achieving either. What are your methods for doing each of these?

fulltimestudent

The answer likely lies in the way our brain discerns reality. It is always a semi-disconnected experience. "Reality" to the brain is is a series of snapshots of the world around us, it is not always complete and so the mind fills in missing details, perhaps drawing on previous memories. So what we believe we are 'seeing' is always a reconstructed scene.

__________________________________________________

Anyway, here's my 'out-of-body' experience and the likely explanation:

I was about four y.o. but some scenes are still fresh in my mind, maybe because my anguish was so great.

I would have these periodic 'sessions' of thinking that I was floating around the room. But at the same time, I knew I was lying on my bed. It was (to me) absolutely terrifying, and I would scream in terror. My family were always extremely concerned and the Doctor would be called (still house calls when I was young - grin). I have one scene in my memory, of the Dr standing there shaking his head, while 'one me' floated around the room, and the 'other me' watched everything from my bed.

In time these experiences stopped.

Many years later in fact in my fifties, I think, I found what I believe to be the cause of these experiences. Here it is:

In those days, many people grew this shrub, and I would pick the flower and pretend it was a trumpet, I would therefore ingest some of the sap.

My experience as a child matches the symptoms induced by the plant. Here's part of the wikipedia entry:

All parts of Brugmansia are poisonous, with the seeds and leaves being especially dangerous. Brugmansia are rich in Scopolamine (hyoscine), hyoscyamine, and several other tropane alkaloids. Effects of ingestion can include paralysis of smooth muscles, confusion, tachycardia, dry mouth, diarrhea, migraine headaches, visual and auditory hallucinations, mydriasis, rapid onset cycloplegia, and death.

The hallucinogenic effects of Brugmansia were described in the journal Pathology as "terrifying rather than pleasurable". The author Christina Pratt, in An Encyclopedia of Shamanism, says that "Brugmansia induces a powerful trance with violent and unpleasant effects, sickening after effects, and at times temporary insanity" These hallucinations are often characterized by complete loss of awareness that one is hallucinating, disconnection from reality, and amnesia of the episode, such as one example reported in Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience of a young man who amputated his own penis and tongue after drinking only 1 cup ofBrugmansia tea. The Swiss naturalist and explorer Johann von Tschudi described the effects of Brugmansia ingestion on one individual in Peru:

Soon after drinking the Tonga, the man fell into a dull brooding, he stared vacantly at the ground, his mouth was closed firmly, almost convulsively and his nostrils were flared. Cold sweat covered his forehead. He was deathly pale. The jugular veins on his throat were swollen as large as a finger and he was wheezing as his chest rose and sank slowly. His arms hung down stiffly by his body. Then his eyes misted over and filled with huge tears and his lips twitched convulsively for a brief moment. His carotids were visibly beating, his respiration increased and his extremities twitched and shuddered of their own accord. This condition would have lasted about a quarter of an hour, then all these actions increased in intensity. His eyes were now dry but had become bright red and rolled about wildly in their sockets and all his facial muscles were horribly distorted. A thick white foam leaked out between his half open lips. The pulses on his forehead and throat were beating too fast to be counted. His breathing was short, extraordinarily fast and did not seem to lift the chest, which was visibly fibrillating. A mass of sticky sweat covered his whole body which continued to be shaken by the most dreadful convulsions. His limbs were hideously contorted. He alternated between murmuring quietly and incomprehensibly and uttering loud, heart-rending shrieks, howling dully and moaning and groaning.

Some municipalities prohibit the purchase, sale, or cultivation of Brugmansia plants.

In 1994, 112 teenagers were admitted to hospitals from ingesting Brugmansia in Florida alone. The concentrations of alkaloids in all parts of the plant differ markedly. They even vary with the seasons and the level of hydration, so it is nearly impossible to determine a safe level of alkaloid exposure.

That's my experience and a logical explanation. Silly little bugger, wasn't I as I thought I enjoyed the wonders of Yahweh's creation, only to find the terror he places behind the beauty.

ever had an out-of-body experience?

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