The Institute for Spirituality and Health Hosts a Conversation on The Nature of Consciousness and What Happens When We Die

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Interview opportunities: Photo and video available.

The conversation explores the profound effect consciousness has on the mind and brain after an NDE.

The Institute for Spirituality and Health (the Institute) will host “On the Continuity of Our Consciousness,” an interview and Q&A session with cardiologist and well-respected near-death experience (NDE) researcher Dr. Pim van Lommel. Dr. van Lommel’s published study in The Lancet is a foundational study in the area of NDEs, appearing as the first reference on the NDE Wikipedia page. Cyrus Wirls, director of programs for The Institute, will lead a conversation that will explore several universal elements of NDEs uncovered during Dr. van Lommel’s rigorous study of 334 cardiac arrest patients and how consciousness and memories could be experienced outside the body during a temporary non-functioning brain. The Zoom event will take place on Sunday, August 8, 2021, at 2:00pm Central time. For more information and to register for this free event, please visit https://www.spiritualityandhealth.org/events/vanlommel.

Near-death experiences gained public attention in the 1970s because of the pioneering work of psychiatrists Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Raymond Moody, Jr., and George Ritchie. According to the International Association for Near-Death Studies, Inc. (IANDS), an NDE is typically a profound, life-changing, intensely emotional experience that usually occurs during a clinical crisis and has common characteristics and aftereffects. Researchers distinguish NDEs from dreams, hallucinations, and mental illness. Van Lommel’s in-depth research clarifies what some patients experience that period of unconsciousness due to a life-threatening crisis, including reporting memories from early childhood as well as heightened feelings of peace and knowledge, seeing visions of the future, and feeling detached from the body. Following an NDE, experiencers (NDErs) often display some common, long-term aftereffects.

“The nature of consciousness is mysterious. NDEs are a window into a better understanding of consciousness and the boundary between life and death or near death,” Wirls commented. “Understanding the nature of our own minds, our relationships, and what happens when we die impacts the way we walk through life. We are excited that one of the most well-known NDE researchers and credible medical professionals on this subject joins us to forward the conversation on the relationship between the mind and the brain, which ultimately has profound implications for our health and how the medical community provides support for people with NDEs.”

According to current medical theories, it is not possible to experience consciousness during a cardiac arrest when circulation and breathing have ceased. However, in conducting his prospective study, Dr. van Lommel concluded NDEs are real experiences with enduring health implications. Wirls and Van Lommel will discuss NDEs and their implication for the concept of how consciousness and memories could be experienced outside the body during a temporarily non-functioning brain.

“It is my pleasure to be interviewed by Mr. Wirls and work with the Institute to discuss my research. NDEs are an authentic experience which cannot be simply reduced to imagination, fear of death, hallucination, psychosis, the use of drugs, or oxygen deficiency. And people appear to be permanently changed by a NDE of only some minutes duration,” Van Lommel said. “How could a clear consciousness outside one’s body be experienced at the moment that the brain no longer functions during a period of clinical death, with a flat EEG? How is consciousness related to the integrity of brain function? And is there a start or an end to consciousness? Scientific study of NDE pushes us to the limits of our medical and neurophysiologic ideas about the range of human consciousness and mind-brain relation because we have to admit that it is not possible to reduce consciousness to neural processes as conceived by contemporary neuroscience.”

About the Institute for Spirituality and Health
Founded in 1955, The Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center was originally known as The Institute of Religion. From its inception, the Institute has been dedicated to the concept that humans are spiritual beings and that spirituality plays a vital role in health and healing. Each year, the Institute hosts a Nursing Conference, a Psychotherapy and Faith Conference, and are co-sponsors of the national Conference on Medicine and Religion. The Institute offers classes for yoga, tai chi, meditation 101, and many other classes and online webinars on spirituality and health-related issues. The Institute’s website offers additional resources and links.

For more information, visit https://www.spiritualityandhealth.org.

The Institute founded the Houston area chapter of IANDs (International Association for Near-Death Studies) at the Texas Medical Center in 2019. The chapter is building a community that serves as a safe space to support those who have had a near-death experience, and their loved ones, as they integrate their experience into their lives. Houston IANDS also serves to inform the public about NDEs and the lessons and messages that experiencers bring back, and to educate the medical community to recognize and appropriately treat people who have had an NDE. The Institute offers events on even months with NDE experts, and a support circle every month where participants can mutually support one another with a safe space to share their experiences.

About Dr. Pim van Lommel, M.D.
Pim van Lommel, M.D., was born in 1943, graduated in 1971 from the University of Utrecht, and finished his specialization in cardiology in 1976. He worked from 1977 to 2003 as a cardiologist in Hospital Rijnstate, an 800-bed Teaching Hospital in Arnhem, the Netherlands, and is now doing full-time research on the mind-brain relation. He published several articles on cardiology, but since he started his research on near-death experiences (NDE) in survivors of cardiac arrest in 1986, he is the author of over 20 articles (most of them in Dutch), one book, and many chapters about NDE.

He was co-founder of the Dutch IANDS in 1988. In 2005, he was granted the Dr. Bruce Greyson Research Award of the International Association of Near-Death Studies (IANDS). In 2006, the president of India rewarded him with the Life Time Achievement Award at the World Congress on Clinical and Preventive Cardiology in New Delhi. His Dutch book ‘Endless Consciousness’ was nominated for the ‘Book of the Year 2008’ in the Netherlands. In 2010, he received the 2010 Book Award from the Scientific and Medical Network, and in 2017, he received the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Award from the Dutch Society of Volunteers in Palliative and Terminal Care (VPTZ). In 2020, the Spiritual Awakenings International (SAI) honored him for his ground-breaking work on Near-Death Experiences as a Circle of Honor honoree.

In November 2007, his book Endless Consciousness (Eindeloos Bewustzijn) was published in The Netherlands. It is a bestseller with more than 150,000 copies sold (26th edition). His book has also been published in Germany, France, Poland, Latvia, Italy, Hungary, and China. It is planned to be published in Russia.

For more information on Dr. van Lommel, visit https://pimvanlommel.nl/en.