There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
-from Hamlet
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By: Stephan A. Schwartz, Gary E. Schwartz, PhD, Larry Dossey, MD
In February 2014, a group of internationally known scientists from the fields of biology, neuroscience, psychology, medicine, and psychiatry participated in a conference on post-materialist science. The purpose was to discuss the impact of the prevailing mechanistic-materialist ideology within science and the emergence of a post-materialist paradigm for science, spirituality, and society. The nature of consciousness has been largely explored only from the assumption that it is a neuro-physiological process entirely resident in the human organism. Its inherent physicality has become an ironbound axiom. But a growing body of experimental and clinical research now challenges this assumption.
The 2014 Conference resulted in the Manifesto for a Post-Materialist Science.
Then, in September 2015, a second Conference was held. Its faculty was composed of therapists, clinicians, scholars, and researchers from the United States, Europe, and Asia, all of whom are involved in some way in the processes of human death. Many who attended felt that an exclusively materialist model of consciousness—the view that consciousness is produced entirely by the brain and that physical death annihilates it—cannot account for the experiences they see in those who are dying.
The purpose was to explore the question: What happens when we die? The conference faculty was composed of therapists, clinicians, scholars, and researchers from the United States, Europe, and Asia, all of whom are involved in some way in the processes of human death. Many felt that a materialist model of consciousness—the view that consciousness is produced entirely by the brain and that physical death annihilates it—cannot account for the rich experiences they see in the dying.
All agreed on the existence of a nonlocal aspect of consciousness, and there emerged a Declaration for Integrative, Evidence-Based, End-of-Life Care that Incorporates Nonlocal Consciousness. This Declaration represents a consensus view of the undersigned faculty concerning the greatest issues anyone faces: the origin, destiny, and nature of human consciousness.
1) Today, there are seven stabilized experimental protocols used in laboratories around the world, each of which requires the existence of nonlocal consciousness to be successful. All seven protocols have independently produced six-sigma results, meaning that the odds against a chance explanation of the experimental finding are roughly a billion to one, or above a 99.999999 percentile of certainty.
2) In addition, there are now five areas of consciousness science directly linked to the processes of death that also support the existence of a nonlocal, non-physiologically dependent consciousness: near-death experiences; after-death communications; deathbed vision and physical phenomena at the time of death; laboratory studies with research mediums; and reincarnation research, particularly involving young children.
3) We believe that the question, Can consciousness exist that is not physiologically based? has been answered in the affirmative, and that it is time to move on.
4) We believe that everyone involved in end-of-life care should be educated in an evidence-based manner concerning these findings.
5) Programs should be developed that prepare patients and their loved ones for the journey following death, based on the evidence provided in this Declaration. This can have major effects in reducing the fear of death in both patients and their loved ones.
6) The new consciousness research points to the existence of an individual’s immortal, nonlocal consciousness, a perspective affirmed by many philosophical and religious traditions for millennia.
We see nonlocal consciousness as existing within the broader context of the emergence of a new paradigm in science which incorporates consciousness. We recognize, however, that acknowledging non-physiologically based consciousness can evoke emotional responses that challenge deeply held beliefs in both mainstream science and religion. It will take courage, compassion, and integrity to address the wealth of implications and opportunities afforded by integrating these research findings. Now is the time to advance this integration.
- this from: HERE
- research thanks to Merv D.