[Selected Opinion Articles] The Earthly World and Beyond

(Minghui.org) The book Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife by American neurosurgeon Eben Alexander published in 2012 described his first-person account of a near-death experience he had while battling meningitis. “My experience showed me that the death of the body and the brain are not the end of consciousness, that human experience continues beyond the grave,” he wrote.

His story was also reported by Newsweek in the October 2012 issue with “Heaven Is Real” on the cover. “Our eternal spiritual self is more real than anything we perceive in this physical realm, and has a divine connection to the infinite love of the Creator.”

Beyond Modern Science

Other scientists have also confirmed near-death experiences. A large-scale study of 2,060 patients in 15 hospitals in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Austria started in 2008. The findings were published in 2014 in the journal of Resuscitation titled “AWARE—AWAreness during REsuscitation—A prospective study.”

“The themes relating to the experience of death appear far broader than what has been understood so far, or what has been described as so-called near-death experiences,” wrote Sam Parnia from The State University of New York at Stony Brook. Many patients saw a tunnel or light.

The Weekly World News published an article in February 1994 on pictures obtained by Hubble Space Telescope in December 1993. When the giant lens focused on a star cluster at the edge of the universe, a vast white city was found floating in the blackness of space. Author and researcher Marcia Masson referred to it as a photograph of heaven.

“Because life as we know it couldn’t possibly exist in icy, airless space,” she explained. “This is it – this is the proof we’ve been waiting for.”

Similar stories can be found elsewhere. In an article in May 2019, the BBC reported an ambitious project in the Soviet Union. “This is the Kola Superdeep Borehole, the deepest manmade hole on Earth and deepest artificial point on Earth. The 40,230-foot-deep (12.2km) construction is so deep that locals swear you can hear the screams of souls being tortured in hell,” according to the article titled “During the Cold War, the US and Soviets both created ambitious projects to drill deeper than ever before.” Many people believe that it is an entrance to hell.

Transient Earthly Life

In ancient China, there was a belief that people were closely watched by the divine. One example was documented by Shen Jiji in the Tang Dynasty in Zhen Zhong Ji (The World Inside a Pillow).

A poor scholar named Lu Sheng met a Taoist in a hotel. They chatted for a while but Lu was tired. The Taoist gave him a pillow to take a nap while the hotel owner cooked them rice.

Lu had a dream as he napped in which he married a girl from the prestigious Cui family. He became an official and, after several promotions, was appointed chancellor. However, other officials framed him and deserted him, and he almost lost his life. Later on, the emperor once again appointed him to a high official position with unparalleled wealth. He also had five children, all successful, and was well respected all over the country. He was 80 when he died.

Lu woke up while the hotel owner was still cooking the rice and said, “It seems life is just like a dream. Right?”

“Human happiness is all like that,” replied the Taoist.

This is indeed true. A person may fight for fame and gain their entire life, but they very often end up disappointed because someone else always seems to have a better life. After death, however, everyone is empty-handed.

Seeing through all this, many people focus on spiritual enlightenment. That is, by constantly improving our character while letting go of earthly pursuits, we may return to our heavenly home where we came from.