life after life raymond moody€¦ · experience to himself [telling others], as others either...

Life After Life

Raymond Moody

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M a t t h e w R M o t t o l a P r o p r i e t a r y 1 | 11

Life after Life Executive Summary

Author: Raymond Moody, M.D. Ph.D

About the Author

Raymond Moody is the man behind the term Near Death Experiences (NDE’s), or as the New York Times

calls him, “father of the near-death-experience”. His work can be credited for revolutionizing the way

we think about death, as his eleven books have sold over 20 million copies, with Life after Life (this

book) selling more than 13 million.

He received his medical degree from the University of Georgia and his Ph.D in philosophy from the

University of Virginia. He is also the recipient of many awards including the World Humanitarian Award

and a bronze medal in the Human Relations category at the New York Film Festival for the movie version

of Life After Life.

Warning: This book is a short read, and the majority of it’s content are straight from the stories. Thus,

this executive summary is an awesome to touch up and preview the text, but the true learning is in the

form of hearing real life encounters. Enjoy!

Summary

Raymond Moody uses his experience of hearing and dissecting 150 Near Death Experiences (NDE’s) to

help us understand the reality of death. He goes from turning death into a taboo and frightening

experience into something we can celebrate, something we can look forward to, and something we can

use to shape our physical existence.


Start Here (Click For Direct Reference)

The Impact on Myself

What Is Death?

What is the Experience?

What Parallels Are There?

Explanations

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click to go to index!


My Experience

This book changed my life. Prior to reading this I had suffered with depression and deep rooted anger

towards my parents. Life was “work”, and there seemed to always be a dark cloud over my head. I

wasn’t the classic depression case, I played division 1 sports, graduated magna cum laude, and from the

outside seemed “happy”, but inside was a rollercoaster of emotions I seemingly had no controI over.

75% of the time I was able to channel this anger and depression to work with me and motivate me in

school/work, but right around the time of reading this it was starting to come to a halt. I had been in a

tumultuous relationship that tested my personal faith and career ambitions. I was severely depressed,

having trouble getting out of bed, barely holding on to the motivation of life.

This book will resonate in different ways for everyone, I am a huge believer in self-realization, but the

common truths revealed will enlighten and empower the person you are and want to become. I read

this when I was 23, and prior I had built a strong faith in myself and didn’t feel purpose or reason. I

almost felt like my beliefs were more an educated guess than sound reason.

But without further ado, let’s get into this book and hopefully it changes your life as much as it did mine.

Foreword

Death was never a sensitive subject. In fact, throughout history it’s been celebrated and welcomed.

However, in the twentieth century Western society’s taken any mystification and pretty much shattered

it with what Moody calls scientific materialism. This proposes that only physical matter exists, and that

consciousness is an illusion dependent on the workings of the brain and body.

Why and what were the forces behind this? Moody points to the rapid shift to hospital based care in the

early twentieth century leading to a de-humanization of death since the process was now in hospitals

with loved ones usually ushered away. I would also offer the commercialization of death, with the

amount of money to be made from grants and procedures in keeping patients alive have made it

decidedly unnatural.

“The vast majority of human cultures over tens of millennia have seen death as a natural part

of life and have built their understanding of it into a comprehensive worldview. But with the

rise of scientific materialism in the twentieth century, modern Western culture abandoned

that integrated view, to it’s detriment.”

Personal Death Story: My Grandfather

Within the past year my grandfather passed away. I’m not exactly sure of the reasons but he had fallen

two days before and didn’t look the same the whole day after the fall. Later that night he was having

breathing problems and what seemed like a normal trip to the hospital ended up being his last.

In the hospital (disclaimer, this is a second hand story from my father), he kept saying “I’m sorry”, and

“someone’s here”.

What’s further, is in his closet after he had passed he had laid out a suit and tie, seemingly his burial

outfit. From my perspective he knew, and I feel at peace in that.






Intro

In what I believe should be the first paragraph of every book, Moody states:

“THIS BOOK, WRITTEN as it is by a human being, naturally reflects the background, opinions and

prejudices of its author. So, although I have tried to be as objective and straightforward as I can,

certain facts about me might be useful in evaluating some of the extraordinary claims which are

made in what follows.”

His beliefs technically would be of the Methodist church (in organizational terms), but his beliefs are

that no one of us has all the answers to the deep and fundamental truths with which religion deals.

Which brings me to the bias of myself even as I synthesize his work.

I was raised protestant, but would organizationally call myself spiritual. Like the author above, I believe

no one man/woman/ organization has the answers, and I believe never will because existence and our

being stems from each individuals unique soul, thus any structure, order, or practice with unilateral

rules can’t answer your unique truth.

Chapter 1: Phenomenon of Death

This is where my head first exploded.

Lesson 1: Limitation of Human Language

First Moody talks about the limitations of human language in regards to discussing death.

“…words of human language allude to things of which we have experience through our own

physical senses. Death, though, is something which lies beyond the conscious experience of

most of us because most of us have never been through it”

Lesson 2: How We View Death

Next he highlights the comparison of death to sleep, first alluding to Homer’s The Illiad in which Homer

calls sleep “death’s sister”. He then highlights Plato in his dialogue The Apology, in which he says, “Now,

if death is only a dreamless sleep”.

Finally he alludes to modern day, in which he says this analogy is embedded in our contemporary

language. His example dogs being “put to sleep”. My example is much broader. How many times have

you heard this word with physical violence or sport? Football, boxing, MMA, just turn on WWE Monday

night raw and I promise you’ll here it.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z90wz-spxjE


Lesson 3: How Ancients View Death

The fear of death or misconception death hasn’t always been prevalent, in fact ancient civilizations

seemed to embrace and celebrate it. This is because they believed the human body survives even after

the physical body ceases. They saw it as a “transition” rather than “to sleep”. Moody highlights a Turkish

graveyard used by Neanderthal men 100,000 years ago. Upon digging up fossils, they noticed these

ancient men buried their dead in biers of flowers, signaling the possibility it was a celebration.

Chapter 2: The Experience of Dying

Lesson 1: The Process

Moody systematizes the “ideal’ or “complete” experience which embodies all the common elements, in

the order in which it is typical for them to occur. The outline of his process looks like this:

A man is dying, and as he reaches the point of greatest physical distress, he hears himself

pronounced dead by his doctor. He begins to hear an uncomfortable noise, a loud ringing or

buzzing [The Noise], and at the same time feels himself moving very rapidly through a long dark

tunnel [The Dark Tunnel]. After this, he sees himself outside of his physical body, but still in the

immediate physical environment [Out of the Body]. He is generally in a state of emotional

upheaval as he sees his physical body.

He collects himself after a while, and notices that he has a “body”, but different than anything in

physical form. Most people mention this state of being as limitless, free, truly autonomous.

Soon other things begin to happen. Spirits, usually past deceased relatives and friends visit him

to help with the process [Meeting Others]. Also a loving, warm spirit people call the being of

light appears before him [The Being of Light]. This being asks him two main questions,

nonverbally. One, are you prepared to die, and two, what do you have to show me. This being

helps him along by showing him a panoramic, instantaneous playback of the major events of his

life, teaching with every experience [The Review].





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr1Qe7v2h0Q


It’s around this point he finds himself at the border of earthly life and the next life, usually not

wanting to return to earthly life [The Border or Limit], as he is overwhelmed by intense feelings

of joy, love, and peace. It’s here he somehow reunites with his physical body and lives [Coming

Back]. He tries to tell others about his experience, but has trouble doing so and thus keeps this

experience to himself [Telling Others], as others either scoff or just can’t understand

[Ineffability].

Each subsection is highlighted above, and now I will briefly touch on what I consider the most important

ones (This is where real life stories come in):

The Being of Light

No matter religious backgrounds, not one person expressed any doubt that it was a being, and a being

of light. In fact, they called it a “personal” being.

This being also tends to be largely a function of the religious background, as most of the Christian

backed men and women described the light as Christ while a Jewish man and women identified it as an

angel.

The Review

To me this is where the book takes shape, for it is here the being releases the true meaning of

life and we see from NDE’s the teachings this being presents.

The being starts by asking two questions related to your readiness to die and your past

accomplishments. One woman said:

“The first thing he said to me was, that he kind of asked me if I was ready to die, or what

I had done with my life that I wanted to show him.”

However, these questions were NOT asked in a subjective way, but rather a socratical way,

focusing on reflection rather than anything absolute. As the author says, “…not at all asked in

condemnation”.

Reflection

Next the being takes you through a panoramic review of your life, with memories following one

another swiftly in chronological order.

Here he uses every experience to teach the following principles: Love and Knowledge.

I’d like to point out this man’s story:

“All through this, he kept stressing the importance of love. He seemed very interested in

things concerning knowledge, too. He kept on pointing out things that had to do with

learning, and he did say that I was going to continue learning, and he said that even

when he comes back for me (because by this time he had told me that I was going back)






that there will always be a quest for knowledge. He said that it is a continuous process,

so I got the feeling that it goes on after death.”

This is where I came up with my following truth. Each one of you will have different truths, but

all centered on the teachings of this being.

My Truth: Life has meaning, and the meaning of this physical life is the soul’s self-realization

journey towards duty, knowledge, and love. This means aligning the above truth with your

intention in everything you do.

Coming Back

What is important here is the reason people come back. We’ve seen above the meaning of life, and how

we can apply this to everyday, but WHY did the people come back.

It comes back to this being, and according to the people, it wasn’t for them, but rather the people on

earth. As one woman said, “I had a duty to my family…so I decided to try to come back”.

Moody said:

“Others feel that they were in effect allowed to live by “God”, or by the being of light, either in

response to their own request to be allowed to live (usually because the request was made unselfishly)

or because God or the being apparently had some mission in mind for them fulfill.

The message is this, your existence is predicated on love for others, and the intention of coming back

must be for others and not yourself.

Effects on Lives

The profound impact of NDE’s don’t have to be exclusive to those with experience. In fact, it is only to

our benefit to understand their experience and carry it over to our own life.

We’ve discussed the feelings of limitless and freedom, but what is most important in our existence right

now is the experience with the white light. This white light brings you through a panorama of your life,

guiding and teaching you to focus on love and knowledge.

The consensus of effect from people coming back summarize into this:

- Life becomes more precious

- Actions are now driven by meaning

- People focus on loving others, doing things for other’s good rather than their own, and being

non-biased or judgmental






My Experience

Growing up I was always an athlete. At 13 I was traveling the nation finding the best competition in

baseball. By high school I was talking to college coaches, and by college I was invited to a tryout for the

Atlanta Braves. However I never felt fulfilled, or meaningful in doing this. Rather, I felt like I was doing it

because I was supposed to rather than because it was right or I wanted to. I felt like I was living the life

others wanted and wasn’t in control. Somehow I made it through 4 years of division 1 college baseball,

and even though I would practice every day and had a successful career, I never felt “in” it.

After this book what was fuzzy became clear, and my realization was this: I wasn’t helping anyone

through playing. I wasn’t loving anyone through playing. In fact, I was doing to do it, not because there

the meaning of knowledge and love as the being calls it.

One man echoed my realization: “There’s so much more that I’ve got to find out…there’s more

to life than Friday night movies and the football game”.

This realization now drives me in every project/job/work I do. If there is no meaning, I am wasting my

existence living the life not for me. Its not about pay, or prestige, but rather meaning.

New Views of Death

As you can imagine, the view of death as “to put to sleep” disavows logic and personal experience, while

viewing it as a transition and coming home seems best fit.

As one man puts it: “I’ve had a gun pulled on me and put to my temple. And it didn’t frighten me very

much, because I thought, “Well, if I really die, if they really kill me, I know I’ll still live somewhere”.

But the author makes sure to point this is only with unintentional death, as intentionally dying is

considered throwing the gift of life away.

Chapter 3: Parallels

Moody now highlights the parallels between NDE’s and highly esoteric writings from the literature of

several very diverse civilizations, cultures, and eras.

The Bible

The Bible, specifically the Old Testament, says very little about death. In fact, in the little of text on it, it

alludes to “sleep” until all physical beings are resurrected.






Isaiah 26:19: Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and

sing, ye that dwell in dust: for…the earth shall cast out the dead

Daniel 12:2: And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to

everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Personal Objection

This is where my personal bias might spill over, but in no NDE were there feelings of shame. Unlike as

mentioned above, the reflection period was met with love and the yearning for knowledge, even when

touching upon the experiences of greed and guilt in the panorama.

In fact, Moody says when most people come back they become more reflective and concerned with

“ultimate philosophical issues”, which to me means universal leaning views.

Plato

Plato, who lived in Athens from 428 to 348 BC was one of the greatest thinkers of all time.

He believed strongly in the use of reason, logic, and argument in the attainment of truth and wisdom,

but up a point, as ultimately truth can only come to one in an almost mystical experience of

enlightenment and insight. This mystical experience refers to the fact he believes this physical realm

could be understood by referencing “higher” planes of reality.

“Accordingly, he was interested mainly in the incorporeal, conscious component of man-the

soul-and saw the physical body only as the temporary vehicle of the soul”

Brace up, because the next book you read this will come full circle.

Seat of the Soul Summary

The Tibetan Book of the Dead

This remarkable work is the compilation of teachings of sages over many centuries in prehistoric Tibet,

and would be read at the funeral or during the dying process. It was thought to serve two main

purposes:

1: Help the dying person keep in mind the nature of each new wondrous phenomenon as he

experienced it.

2: Help those still living think positive thoughts and not hold the dying one back.

What is remarkable is their contradictory view of death compared to current day, as the wise men who

wrote it regarded dying as a skill, “something which could be done either artfully or in an unbecoming

manner”.

Without getting into the specific process described in the book, we can confirm that with the exception

of later stages of death, their account was extremely similar to NDE’s.





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Emmanuel Swedenborg

Swedenborg, who lived from 1688-1772, was renowned in the field of natural science. However, later in

life he underwent a religious crisis and would tell of experiences in which he would communicate with

spiritual entities.

What is phenomenal is how striking his claims are with these experiences, as he explains when

respiration and circulation ceases like this:

“Still man does not die, but is only separated from the corporeal part which was of use to him in

the world…Man, when he dies, only passes from one world into another.”

He brings me to the following understanding:

It is obvious we don’t use all of our brain. Without getting into scientific debates, I bring up

dreaming to defend this, as thoughts you would never have in a conscious state are brought to life.

Lucid Dreaming: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201212/lucid-

dreaming-and-self-realization

Chapter 4: Questions

Here Moody confronts every question. Refer to your book for specifics.

Chapter 5: Explanations

For each solution someone can find 20 problems

In this chapter Moody takes the 3 main explanations and compares them to his subject’s experiences.

Supernatural

Here Moody describes the common supernatural view of an experience being either God-directed or

Satan-directed. He says in all experiences his subjects come back with a renewed commitment towards

loving and forgiving which would most resemble god-directed.

Natural (Scientific)

In examining any explanations due to drugs, physiology (biology of functions within body), and

neurology (nervous system), Moody points out that although experiences are similar, there are distinct





https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201212/lucid-dreaming-and-self-realization




differences between the above group and NDE’s. Specifically, the above group has experiences more

tailored to their religious training versus what raw NDE’s have said.

Psychological

Before getting into the details, the author makes sure to clarify how psychology as a field is very

scattered. He then discusses two core psychology concepts that create similar NDE experiences:

1: Isolation Research

2: Dreams, Hallucinations, and Delusions

Just like with the natural (scientific) section, the differences were in the details, as non-NDE’s tailored

more to the person’s beliefs than the common NDE.

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