1972年,美國精神研究會的資深心理學研究人員卡利斯‧奧西斯博士(Karlis Osis, 1917-1997)和冰島心理學家埃倫杜爾‧哈拉爾森博士(Erlendur Haraldsson, 1931—2020)採訪了見證瀕死體驗的一千多名醫生和護士,合作出版了《死亡時刻》(At the Hour of Death)。這是首次對瀕死體驗進行的科學調查。³⁹³
1975年,美國喬治亞大學醫學專業、弗吉尼亞大學哲學博士雷蒙德‧穆迪博士(Raymond Moody)出版《死後的世界》(Life After Life),首次提出「瀕死體驗」(Near-death Experience)這一名詞,他因此被稱爲「瀕死體驗之父」。這本書是穆迪對一百多名經歷過「臨床死亡」並復活的人的瀕死體驗經歷進行開創性研究的成果,書中他提出了「理想或完整瀕死體驗」的11個要素。³⁹⁴
1978年,布魯斯‧格雷森醫學博士(Bruce Greyson, MD)和雷蒙德‧穆迪醫學博士(Raymond Moody, MD)等作爲共同創始人,在美國創建了世界上第一個研究瀕死體驗的學術機構「瀕死現象科學研究協會」(Association for the Scientific Study of Near-Death Phenomena)。1981年改名爲「瀕死研究國際學會」(International Association for Near-death Studies, IANDS),標誌着瀕死體驗研究進入了有組織、有規模的學術研究階段。³⁹⁵
1982—1987年,國際瀕死研究協會開始創辦附屬學術期刊《復甦:瀕死研究雜誌》(Anabiosis: The Journal for Near-Death Studies),爲同行評審期刊,1988年更名爲《瀕死研究雜誌》(Journal of Near-Death Studies, 1988-present)。³⁹⁷
1998年,美國路易斯安那州放射腫瘤學醫生傑弗瑞‧朗恩(Jeffrey Long, 1954—)在放射腫瘤學住院醫師專業培訓中,偶然間讀到《美國醫學會雜誌》發表的一篇關於心臟驟停患者瀕死體驗的文章。這些發現令朗恩感到驚訝,也啓發他創立了世界上最大的瀕死體驗研究網站和瀕死體驗研究基金會(Near-Death Experience Research Foundation, NDERF)³⁹⁸。迄今爲止,該網站上累積了超過5200個瀕死體驗案例,成爲世界上最大的研究瀕死體驗數據庫之一。
2010年,朗恩出版《來世的證據:瀕死體驗的科學》(Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences)³⁹⁹,首次系統總結了瀕死體驗真實存在的九大證據。朗恩通過自己創建的網站,收集並分析大量瀕死案例,於2014年9月在《密蘇里醫學》(Missouri Medicine)期刊發表文章《證明瀕死體驗真實性的證據》(Near-Death Experiences Evidence for Their Reality),進一步補充了這九大證據。⁴⁰⁰
2022年,薩姆‧帕尼爾(Sam Parnia)博士組織了多門學科的帶頭人,在《紐約科學院年鑑》(Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences)期刊上發表主流醫學界第一份正式承認瀕死現象成立的醫學共識──《研究死亡和死亡經歷回憶的指南和標準》(Guidelines and standards for the study of death and recalled experiences of death)。⁴⁰¹
帕尼爾2014年在國際著名醫學期刊《復甦》(Resuscitation)上,發表了一項爲期4年的多中心觀察性研究,論文標題爲「AWARE──心臟驟停搶救期間的意識──一項前瞻性研究」(AWARE—AWAreness during REsuscitation—A prospective study)。⁴⁰⁷
「我在天花板上俯瞰着(I was on the ceiling looking down)。」「我看見之前不認識的一名護士,而在事後我確實見過她。我能看到自己的身體,看到了一切。我看到一名醫生塞東西進我的喉嚨時,另外有人在測量我的血壓。我看到一名護士在按壓我的胸部……我看到測量血氧和血糖水平的過程。」
關於盲人瀕死經歷的最大一項研究的結果,在1997年美國康涅狄格大學(University of Connecticut)的肯尼思‧林博士(Kenneth Ring, Ph.D.)和莎朗‧庫珀(Sharon Cooper, M.A.)於《瀕死研究雜誌》(Journal of Near-Death Studies)上發表的《盲人的瀕死和靈魂離體體驗:明顯的無肉眼視覺的研究》(Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind: A Study of Apparent Eyeless Vision)論文中⁴¹⁸;2008年他們又出版了《心靈視覺:盲人的瀕死和靈魂離體體驗》(Mindsight: Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind)一書⁴¹⁹。
2015年出版的《想像天堂》(Imagine Heaven)的作者、具有工程師經歷的美國作家約翰‧柏克(John Burke)在接受英文新唐人電視臺《生命奧祕》(Mysteries of Life)節目組的採訪時⁴²¹,談到他所研究的瀕死體驗者報告的超常視覺。他說,有的瀕死體驗者報告:「我同時有望遠鏡般和顯微鏡般的視覺。」「我可以看到幾英里之外的每棵樹的葉子上的每一條葉脈」。(They said, 「I could have telescopic and microscopic vision at the same time.」 「I could see miles away but I could see every vein on the leaves of every tree.」)
穆迪博士所觀察到的人生回顧通常是另外空間的「光明生命」(The being of life)呈現給瀕死體驗者的一生的全景回顧,按時間順序排列,就像非常快地播放立體電影。「光明生命」啓發瀕臨死亡的人反思,同時強調學習愛他人和獲取知識的重要性。瀕死體驗者表示,自己彷彿真的處於這些記憶回溯中,而不僅僅是看到它們。
穆迪博士指出,許多瀕死體驗者描述遇到散發着光芒的生命,或叫「光明生命」(The Being of Light),那是一種難以形容的明亮的光,但不會傷害眼睛。大多數人將這種光視爲具有愛和溫暖的高級生命。這種高級生命會讓瀕死體驗者感到一種不可抗拒的吸引力,或者感到完全放鬆,就好像他們被這個光的生命所吞沒一樣。
朗恩博士在《神與來世》(God and the Afterlife)中基於對3000個瀕死體驗病例的分析進一步指出,有過瀕死體驗的人常常因爲在瀕死體驗過程中遇到神或得到神的指示,被告知尚有人生重要的事情去做、需要返回現世的人生。其人生觀和世界觀在重生後發生很大的變化。⁴³⁷
美國作家內德‧多爾蒂(Ned Dougherty)於2002年9月1日出版了《通往天堂的快速通道:一場死後之旅》(Fast Lane to Heaven: A Life-After-Death)。他在書中回顧了自己於1984年7月2日晚上的一次特殊體驗。當時他在與朋友從魁北克市返回時,車子失去控制,與另一輛車迎面相撞。多爾蒂立刻離開了自己的身體,從上方看到了圍繞事故現場發生的事件。⁴³⁸
這個經歷後來成爲了分享的故事,她的書《死亡中成爲真實的我:從癌症、瀕死到真正的痊癒之旅》(Dying to Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing)中也詳細記錄了這個非凡的經歷,並探討了生命、死亡和治癒的深層意義。⁴³⁹
穆爾賈尼在書的前言寫道:「我相信宇宙中最偉大的真理並非存在於外在,例如對星球和行星的研究,而是深藏於我們內在,存在於我們的心靈、思想和靈魂的壯麗之處。只有在我們理解內在之後,我們才能真正理解外在。」(I believe that the greatest truths of the universe don』t lie outside, in the study of the stars and the planets. They lie deep within us, in the magnificence of our heart, mind, and soul. Until we understand what is within, we can』t understand what is without.)
亞歷山大的大兒子建議他在閱讀任何與瀕死體驗、物理學或宇宙學相關的內容之前,先寫下他所能記得的有關旅程的所有細節。六週後,亞歷山大完成了超過20,000字的初步記錄,後來寫了一本題爲「天堂的證明:神經外科醫生的死後世界之旅」(Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon』s Journey into the Afterlife)的書⁴⁴²。然後,他開始閱讀相關書籍,並驚訝地發現他的旅程與全球各地數千年來報導的其他人的旅程之間有許多共通之處。
1999年,美國骨科醫生瑪麗‧C‧尼爾(Dr. Mary C. Neal)在智利南部經歷了一次意外溺水事故,接着,她經歷了從生命的邊緣走到死亡然後再次復生的過程。她在2011年出版的著作《走進天堂再回來》(To Heaven and Back)中詳細描述了自己的瀕死體驗,內容主要包括靈魂離體感、進入光明境地、遇見靈體和回顧人生,與其他人的瀕死體驗非常相似。⁴⁴⁴
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